She Fell From Heaven
by roryflieswhenheshappy
Summary: Delia and Braelyn aren't exactly open books. Sure, Braelyn might appear shy and introverted, or even awkward, and Delia might seem like a bubbly, carefree girl, but they're much more than that. When Braelyn falls for Ethan, and Delia decides to befriend the "cutie-patutie" Rory, one thing's for sure; secrets will be revealed. (Co-written by best friends) (Delia is NOT Della..)
1. Chapter 1

_**Braelyn**_

I shifted my heavy bag on my shoulder uncomfortably, painfully aware of its bright pink hue(my aunt had picked it out for me). Other students at Whitechapel High bustled past me in a rough manner, too busy with their own problems to care about the shy new kid gawking awkwardly around.

After a moment or so of wondering how my chatty aunt had convinced me to come here(of all places, a public school!), I sighed and started trudging in the general direction of my first class. I honestly hadn't the first clue which room it was in, but the head office was on the other side of the building and it was too much effort to request a schedule. Plus, I recognized some of my classmates from the open house, so it was easier just to follow them.

The school building was huge. Honestly, why didn't I just stay at my nice, small private school that I'd attended my whole life? So what if I never ventured beyond my little trio of best friends? It was easier than roughing it at a scandalous place like this.

After admittedly getting lost once or twice, I finally managed to locate my first classroom, with less than a minute to spare before class started. Now for the next problem. Where to sit? Should I risk setting my books down between a pair of noisy jocks, or would Mrs. I'm-So-Amazing-Cheerleader be a better selection? Perhaps I'd best opt for beside that quiet, geeky-looking kid. After all, it would most likely pay off to know an A student, and from what I could tell, this kid knew his stuff. He rubbed off on me as organized and meticulous, yet with a hint of intractability that marked him as a geek. A somewhat good-looking one, for sure, but a geek all the same.

My decision was made. I plopped quite un-gracefully down next to my selected techie.

As I began organizing my books and such, the boy looked away from the brunet he had been chatting with and turned to face me.

A glittering pair of deep chocolate eyes met mine, and as my heart melted in my chest, I knew immediately I'd fallen for him.

_Drat._

"Hey, I'm Ethan. Are you new here?"

_Oh no. Oh no. I definitely cannot speak right now. What should I say? Should I just nod? Maybe I should try to sound cool—_

"Meep." I managed to produce an entirely unimpressive squeak that sounded suspiciously like a squirrel.

_…I'm a failure._

Ethan quirked an eyebrow in an oh-so-hot manner, his expression confused. "Is that a yes?"

"M-mm-hmm."

"Oh. Okay. What's your name?"

Just then, our jovial teacher paraded in, declaring loudly, "Hello students. I hope you've all had a good summer. Please say 'here' if you are present."

He thus began calling out name after name, pausing expectantly after each to allow its owner to respond.

"Marissa Adams?"

A short redhead piped up cheerily, "Here!"

"Jeff Ali?"

"Hey."

"Sarah Bennett?"

"Present."

"Kelsey Cole?"

"'Ello."

"Ethan Morgan?"

"Hi." Ethan replied smoothly.

_Ethan Morgan._ I mentally spoke his name, wondering how it would sound on my tongue. _I like his name. It suits him._

A couple rows ahead of us, a brown-haired girl jumped, startling the life out of me. She ogled at Ethan as if shocked, and he smiled and gave a tiny wave back.

I couldn't help but feel jealous.

"Delia Sinclair?"

Once again, the seemingly jumpy girl from before jerked upright in her chair. "Wh—Oh. Uhhh…Here."

_She's pretty,_ I noticed. Her chocolate locks flowed silkily over her shoulders, draping over her pink sweater, ironically from Delia's, and shrouding her face from view.

I wonder how she knows Ethan. _Are they…dating or something?_ The thought appalled me.

A few desks away from me, the brunet Ethan had been chatting with before and another, somewhat cute blond started up a ruckus, snorting not-so-quietly at something the latter had sketched.

"What are you two staring at?" Delia craned her head backward inquiringly, inducing the blond to hold up a picture drawn roughly on notebook paper of our teacher ranting tyrant-style. I muffled a giggle of amusement.

Then began the note-taking. Apparently our teacher really was some sort of oppressor, or maybe a former rapper, because he talked at an inhuman speed without pausing for breath(and still expected us to copy it down). We quickly discovered that asking him to repeat himself was not a smart idea, as he would begin the entire past ten minutes of his tirade over again, precisely the same as before. There was nothing to be done about it, however; he evidently was a stubborn man. After a couple feeble protests, we all gave in and resigned to doodling absentmindedly.

A good thirty minutes into class, a rustling of paper and a tap at my elbow caught my attention. Waking from a doze I hadn't even realized I'd been in, I blinked and looked to the side. Ethan was holding something out to me — a scribbly note, I realized.

Bemused, I took the note from him and opened it up. It read:

'You never did tell me your name. What is it?'

Stifling a smile, I scrambled for a pencil and scrawled down an answer quickly. 'I'm Braelyn.' Then I passed the note back to him, careful to stay out of Mr. Leroy's line of view.

Ethan's gorgeous chocolate eyes twinkled as he read my reply, and he wrote on the paper yet again. 'That's a really pretty name. Where are you from?'

'Angels' Grove Prep.'

'Oh, I know a girl who went there. Delia, two rows ahead of you. We've been friends since birth, pretty much.'

So that's how he knew her. 'Cool. I've never met her before, that's odd.'

'Hm, wonder why.'

Suddenly, a flash of boldness struck my heart, and I hesitantly scribbled a new message on a fresh piece of lined paper.

'Um, do you mind if I eat lunch with you later on? I don't really know anyone yet…'

My heart thumped anxiously at this audacious request. I immediately regretted asking so precipitously, but I refused to erase it, and reached to pass the note to his desk. However, when I extended my arm toward him, our hands brushed against each other, and I immediately felt him tense. The note dropped to the floor.

My body went rigid, and my vision swirled. What's going on? I wanted to scream. Clouds of white, unsubstantial vapor eddied in my view, darkening to form a certain brunet's face, his eyes as deep a chocolate as if he were real.

_Ethan._

Then, quite abruptly, his eyes went blank, seemingly filling with the same snowy mist as mine were. His figure stiffened, giving him the effect that his presence had been temporarily dragged into another world.

As suddenly as it came, the trance ended. My eyesight cleared, and I stared at Ethan, my jaws gaping. He looked as shocked as I felt.

_What just happened?_ I mouthed.

His eyes were dark and ominous(yet somehow still hot). He grabbed for a new paper, scribbling another, more urgent-looking note on the back.

'Meet me outside the classroom as soon as class ends. I'll explain everything then.'

I nodded in consent, and he turned toward the teacher, who was rambling animatedly about some dead guy from WWI. It wasn't until a moment later that I realized belatedly that Ethan hadn't seen my written request.


	2. Chapter 2

**_Delia_**

My first impression of Whitechapel high was, to put it mildly, bleak. The place was pretty much deserted when I arrived; the only people there were one or two students and some teachers that were getting their classrooms ready. Margaret, my sister, had given me a mini intro to the place during the summer, but I was still clueless as to where I had to go. The hallways seemed so eerie, so quiet… it was kind of creepy. "Oh, no," vice principal Hicks, who helped give me the tour, would've said. "Whitechapel High School is one of the safest schools in the state. In fact, we won the 'safest school award' back in 1984." Not like I hadn't heard that come out of my dad's mouth _two billion_ times. He wanted me to come here. He said that it was a "once-in-a-lifetime experience" and that I "wouldn't have that experience in private school". Mom would've preferred for me to stay in Angels' Grove Preparatory School than here in the ancient school she and dad went to, but dad managed to convince her otherwise.

Okay, I had to admit, the school was kind of weird. As the hallways filled up, more and more suspicious-looking students kept piling in. They were jocks, cheerleaders, geeks- nothing out of the usual, but something about them made me look twice. Then again, nothing was normal in Whitechapel, so I put my guard down. No sense in being paranoid on the first day.

I yanked open my messenger bag and blindly searched around for the scrap of paper where I wrote down my locker number and combination. My hand was wading halfway in a sea of books, pencils, trinkets, and whatever else I had thrown into my bag. No wonder it was so heavy. I groaned and hauled the bag off my shoulder, holding it in front of me. I searched once more. _Aha! _I thought, pulling the wrinkled sheet of paper out. I squinted down at it and read slowly. _Locker 214, 16-27-35. _I spotted my new locker immediately.

I uttered a few choice words under my breath when the locker door creaked and squeaked open. First of all, the smell was absolutely _appalling_; it was like someone had mixed skunk spray, sweat, and rotting food all together and left the odor in there for someone else to enjoy. Second of all, the walls and shelves were completely covered in gum, stickers, and graffiti. I sighed and tossed a few of my books in, then slammed the locker closed again. There was no time to fix that mess now. I decided on calling a friend over after school was over and asking them to help clean it. I would need all the help I could get.

A loud, obnoxious beep came from inside my pocket. I pulled my phone out and checked the screen-_ one new message from mom_. I rolled my eyes and pressed read. It was probably just her asking if I hadn't died on my walk to school. Like I would answer if I was dead.

_U okay, honey? :) love u! –from mom, 11/24 at 7:45am_

I smiled a bit to myself.

_Yeah, I'm fine. Just got here. Class is about to start, though. See you after school. –to mom, 11/24 at 7:46am_

I slipped the phone back into my pocket and frowned a little. This wasn't going to be like Angels' Grove, that's for sure. To be honest, I was a bit worried. My friends at Angels' always told me about the horrors their older brothers and sisters faced at Whitechapel. I was never sure if they were true or not, but I still always worried about it. Margaret said that they weren't true. Dad said not to worry about it, that I was smart enough and strong enough to stay away from any trouble. Mom had a mini panic attack. Either way, I wasn't exactly ecstatic when my parents told me that I was going there- especially mid-semester.

I looked down at my watch, which read 7:56am. I didn't want to be late, -god knows what the teachers did to people that were late- so I decided to start heading to class, even though I had no idea where to go. Thankfully, I overheard some girls talking about Mr. Leroy's homeroom- my homeroom- so I followed them until I reached the classroom.

_Brrriiinnggggg! _The bell rung and I slunk down in my seat a little more comfortably. There would be no more waiting, no more anticipation. My possible-joy, possible-torture had begun. A couple students ran in quickly and settled down in empty desks, trying their best to avoid the strict-looking man that followed closely behind and made his way over to the desk in the front of the room. I was glad I had arrived early. He seemed scary.

"Hello, students," Mr. Leroy greeted in a surprisingly non-monotone voice. The knot in my throat lessened noticeably. "I hope you've all had a good weekend." He studied us all closely, from the front of the room to the desks in the back. His gaze wasn't of cruelty, but of observance. He didn't even seem to mind that there were still one or two empty seats. He looked back down at his desk. "Please say 'here' if you are present."

"Marissa Adams?"

"Here," said a short redhead girl in the front row.

He nodded and looked back down at the list of names.

"Jeff Ali?"

"Hey."

"Sarah Bennett?"

A pretty, tan girl was the owner of the name. "Present." The blonde girl next to her giggled and she flashed her a bright smile.

"Kelsey Cole?"

"'Ello."

I zoned out for a couple minutes, doodling and daydreaming.

"Ethan Morgan?" At that name I whirled around, a big smile forming on my face. Finally, someone I knew.

Ethan raised his hand. "Hi." He smiled, too, when he noticed me. The kid was a total sweetheart- and I should know; we had known each other since we were babies.

I looked down at the sheet of notebook paper I had been doodling on and frowned. The black ink from the pen I was using had smeared all over my hand, leaving a big ugly smudge on the paper. Half my hand was now a greenish-black. Great.

"Delia Sinclair?"

Startled, I looked up, not realizing why someone was calling me.

"Oh." I blinked. "Uhhh… here." Mr. Leroy gave me a cautious look, but continued to read the list.

I heard whispers from not that far behind and craned my neck for a better look. It turned out to be two geeky boys that _seemed _to be Ethan's friends, mumbling and staring right at me. I blushed involuntarily. "What are you two staring at?" I said just a bit _too _loudly. "What? Who said that?" Mr. Leroy burst out suddenly, staring everyone down. I gulped. After a couple seconds of no one answering, he sighed and proceeded to read out the names. The taller boy winked at me and proceeded to check something on his phone. The shorter one, blonde and actually kind of cute, just smiled. He held up a stick figure drawing of Mr. Leroy saying "My name is Richard Leroy, and I like to make kids suffer by keeping them in class way longer than I should". I smiled and laughed a bit to myself. He just beamed and put the drawing back down.

Maybe school wouldn't be so bad after all.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Braelyn_**

Finally, the bell rang, and students eagerly streamed from classrooms into the hallways in a zealous attempt to reach their lockers. Not wanting to be trampled, I decided to be one of the last to leave the room.

As I finally vacated the classroom, I caught a glimpse of a tall-ish brunet standing a few yards away. Adhering to Ethan's previous request, I strode over to meet him. Surprisingly, I wasn't very nervous at all about approaching my crush. In fact, I only nearly collapsed twice.

"Braelyn." The way Ethan said my name was a statement, not a greeting or question. I almost shivered at the amount of solemnity in his voice.

"Um…Ethan, what happened?" I could tell that my fingers were shaking, but was unsure of whether it was from perplexity or an adrenaline rush from being so near the beauty that was Ethan. Most likely the latter.

To my surprise, Ethan didn't reply, but instead extended his hand in an attempt to touch mine. I know that I jumped at least ten feet, but Ethan persisted, and our skin came in contact for the second time.

Immediately, my mind was suctioned into a blank, white, swirling void much like the one before. I vaguely glimpsed myself and Ethan together, the both of us beaming happily. My own lilting giggle echoed from somewhere in the nothingness, and I felt my heartstrings tighten with longing.

Abruptly, the "vision" ended. Returned to my physical body, I lost my balance and nearly toppled into Ethan. I managed to catch myself before touching him again, however, as I was sure by now that that would send me straight into another hallucination.

Ethan's jaw was set; his expression grave. "It's just as I thought. You're another seer."

"I…What?"

_Where did that come from?_

He continued his explanation, oblivious to or ignoring my confusion. "I've never met another one. Did you know about your ability before this?"

My dumbfounded expression was answer enough to his inquiry.

Ethan sighed, rubbing the back of his neck in an oh-so-cute manner. "Oh. In that case, this is a really long story; would you mind skipping your next period so I can explain it? Or would you rather wait until after school?"

I'd never skipped a class before and prior to today had no intentions to, but I couldn't pass up a chance to spend an hour — a whole hour! — with my newly discovered love interest. Somehow, I managed to stutter out an incoherent acceptance. Ethan seemed to understand.

"Okay, sounds good. Where do you wanna go?"

"U-um…the unused art room upstairs? Maybe?"

"Sure."

Ethan headed off in the direction of the stairs, but paused when he realized I was lagging a few feet behind him. His gorgeous face aglow with a warm, encouraging smile, he extended his hand in a silent request.

My heart must have exploded, or spontaneously combusted, or whatever happens when your mind goes on overdrive. Icky palms sweating and pulse racing, I reached out and took his hand.

* * *

My jaw gaping, I stared at Ethan blankly. His expression was embarrassed, hopeful, and slightly miffed at my slow understanding.

"So…You're saying there're…What?"

He sighed again. I felt bad for asking for a re-explanation yet another time; I honestly didn't even need it. I just needed clarification, and yet some stubborn part of me was clinging to the tinny-voiced hope that I'd misunderstood. If what Ethan told me was true, then everything I'd ever learned was a lie.

"Vampires, werewolves, seers…they all exist. And you're a seer. So am I. My best friend Benny, he's a spellmaster. Erica and Sarah are both vampires, as well as Rory."

My head throbbed with information-overload. Raking my hands through my golden-brown hair, I leaned against the wall for support. My knees felt weak, and I didn't trust them to support me.

"Braelyn?" Ethan sounded worried. Somehow, that thought made me smile the most miniscule of smiles. Exhaling heavily, I stood up straight and forced a grin.

"Sorry. I just…Lot to take in."

"Hah. I can understand that. If it helps, I can introduce you to Benny's grandmother. She knows everything there is to know about all this."

"Um…sure? Okay, thanks."

His melted-chocolate eyes glazed over, and he awkwardly side-hugged me in an attempt for comfort. All he succeeded in doing was increasing my heart rate tenfold, but I appreciated the effort.

"I know this is confusing, but trust me, it'll start to make sense." He leaned back to glance over my wide-eyed, confused expression, and allowed a tiny smile.

"Well, it's been an hour. I wouldn't want to get you in more trouble than you have to be. See ya." And with that, he exited the abandoned art room, leaving me alone with my muddled, turbulent thoughts.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Delia**_

I let out a sigh of relief as I exited Mrs. Heliyue's classroom. It was the end of fourth period, and everyone in the class seemed to be awaiting the same thing: lunch. Class just couldn't end soon enough. Somehow, I managed to push through the ocean of hungry students heading to the cafeteria and reach my locker, but to my dismay I realized that a pair of students were pressed up against a locker- my locker- kissing like there was no tomorrow. You have got to be kidding me.

"Excuse me? Ahem… excuse me…?" I frowned. They didn't budge a bit. "Hey, um… excuse…" I tried to push them off my locker, but they didn't move. Ugh. One thing I absolutely despised about teenagers. I mean, hormonal much?

After one or two minutes of trying, I conceded defeat. Exhaling deeply, I adjusted the strap of my messenger bag and flipped my hair over my shoulder. 'Guess I'll have to just carry all my books around, then, I thought. I started walking in the direction of the questionable aroma wafting in from what I assumed to be the hall that led to the cafeteria.

"Hey, you two, that's disgusting," I heard someone say behind me. The sound of a flat hand hitting metal rang out in the hallway. I assume that the two that had been swapping spit had woken up from their "kissy-kissy-no-listen-y" trance, because I heard sounds of disapproval and saw them slink angrily past me. Thank god. I turned around and walked back in the direction of my locker. I looked for the voice from earlier, but no one seemed to be hanging around that area anymore. They must've left.

I unlocked my locker and stuffed my math, science, and social studies textbooks in. I stuck in my hand to get my language arts textbook, but it was nowhere to be found. Crap.

"You looking for this?"

At those words I whirled around, ready to snatch my textbook from and/or slap whatever bully was standing behind me.

"Give it ba-" My hand never reached their face, partially because I was completely surprised and partially because I never really raised my hand in the first place.

"Oh."

_Really, Delia? "Oh"? That's all you can say?_

Ethan's geeky-yet-slightly-adorable friend stood in front of me, holding my Advanced Grammar, Vocabulary, and Correct Sentence Composition book in his hands. He gave me a bright smile.

"I'm guessing this is yours," he said, handing me the book. I nodded and slipped it into my bag.

"Thanks," I said, looking back up at him and giving him a grateful smile. "Where'd you find it?" He pointed over at Mr. Leroy's classroom, where Mr. Leroy was happily chewing away at a ham-and-lettuce sandwich.

"It was on your desk. I wanted to give it back to you, but you left before I could." He absentmindedly flipped his hair out of his eyes. What a nice head of hair. His eyes are pretty nice, too. Blue. I immediately mentally smacked myself for thinking that. He's not that cute. He is NOT. THAT. CUTE.

I smiled again. "That's sweet of you. Most boys I know would either steal it, sell it, or write 'nice boobies' on the front page- sometimes all three." He blushed.

"Well, I wouldn't do that," he admitted, his face red like a tomato. "The selling, at least."

I laughed.

"Oh my gosh."

He laughed along, too.

"So, I never really caught your name," I confessed with a frown.

He stuck out his hand for me to shake it.

"Rory."

I nodded in acknowledgement and shook his hand. "Delia," I spat out, sounding strangely like my super-awkward older sister, Carrie. Ugh. I hated when I was nervous.

"I know," he said, blue eyes shining. I felt a blush forming at my cheeks.

"Oh. Well, that's nice."

"I used to know a kid named Rory," I commented, running a hand through my hair. "He was friends with Ethan, too, actually." I squinted at him. "Come to think off it, he looked kind of like you."

Rory scratched his head and offered a sheepish little smile.

"Wait: was he short? Awkward? Shaggy-haired? Wore glasses?" he asked, still smiling strangely. I wasn't sure why he was asking that. It obviously wasn't the same Rory. Rory's a pretty common name, right?

"Um, yeah, why?" I raised an eyebrow. He blushed a little. I expected him to shake his head and say, "Nope, wasn't me". So of course I was completely shocked when he gave me a crooked smile and said, "That was me."

_Wait… what? No, no, no. That can't be him. He's too… non-ugly!_ I remembered when I was little and I used to hang out with him, Ethan, and a guy named Benny. Rory was probably the weirdest, awkward-est, most ugly guy I had ever met. I would've never expected for him to grow up to be, well, what he was now!

He looked me up and down.

"I thought you would've remembered me, but honestly, I didn't recognize you when I first saw you," he admitted. "You've gotten..." His eyes locked with mine. "…taller."

"Yeah, well-" I tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear and crossed my arms- "so have you." He smiled and looked down at his batman watch. "Whoops. Probably should head out," he said, frowning. I nodded. "Oh, okay." I swallowed hard. "See you later, I guess?"

He smiled.

"See you later, Delia."

Ohh, I _loved_ the way he said my name.


	5. Chapter 5

**_Braelyn_**

My heart thumped painfully, to the extent that I was sure any random passerby could hear its throbbing. Struggling to swallow the lump in my throat, I approached Ethan.

He was kneeled before his locker, which I observed was on the bottom row. I couldn't help but notice that he had a very attractive butt.

Immediately, I slapped myself, appalled that my twisted mind would stoop so low as to think things such as that.

Unfortunately, my sudden movement alerted the brunet to my presence, demolishing any hope of backing out for me. _And now I'm all flustered…Darn you stupid perverted brain!_

"Braelyn?"

"Um. H-hi."

_ Wooooow. Eloquent._ I slapped myself again, albeit mentally this time so as not to spawn suspicion.

"What's up?"

Good question. What am I doing here? I should be on my way to lunch…Oh yeah, lunch…

"Urm, I was wondering if it'd be okay if I eat lunch with your group? I-I'm still new to the school, and I don't really know anyone yet…"

Was it my imagination, or did Ethan look…excited? Happy? No, it wasn't possible. My corrupt brain was simply twisting reality.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Sounds good."

"Thanks."

"Yeah."

We stood there awkwardly, unsure of how to end our brief conversation. I could have sworn I was visibly shaking; it wasn't supposed to be possible for the human heart rate to pulse so fast, was it?

Suddenly, a random explosion shook the hallway. The brunet who I'd seen conversing with Ethan in our first class staggered out of a nearby classroom, his face completely blackened with soot and a goofy, ecstatic grin stretched over his face.

"That. Was. AWESOME!" he hollered, pounding his chest like a gorilla. "Ethan! Did you see that? Tell me you saw that!"

Poor Ethan, who had been subject to a very manly hug from his friend, quickly brushed off the hyperactive boy. "S-saw what?"

The brunet's face fell. "You didn't see it?" he whined. "I totally just exploded a frog's appendix using nothing more than petroleum and a couple of boogers! Oh well, come in here and I'll do it again so you can—"

"Um, no thanks Benny, I'm good." Ethan winced under the inquisitive stares the two were beginning to receive.

During this whole ordeal, I was standing at a safe distance, doing something completely intelligent like gawking incoherently. Save maybe the time my cat spontaneously began howling in imitation of a coyote, I had never been more confused or shocked in my life.

My befuddlement must have been obvious, because Ethan glanced at me and immediately began stammering a cross between an apology and an explanation. The result of his prattle was even more perplexity on my part.

Abruptly, the brunet, his face smudged with ashes, pushed in front of Ethan and extended his hand. "Yo. I'm Benny, and you're hot."

I blinked, my jaw dropping.

Ethan looked as if he were about to implode from embarrassment. "Benny! You can't just go up to every cute girl and tell her that!"

He tried to cover Benny's grinning mouth, but failed when the latter threatened to spit on his hand. However, my mind had gone blank moments before.

Ethan had called me "cute."

What did that mean? Was there even a smidgeon of a chance that, by some miracle, my feelings for Ethan were returned? Muffled snorts and hollers from Benny harmonized with the flutterings of newfound hope in my heart.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Delia**_

"I love your outfit," a redhead gushed, running her fingers over the side of my sweater. "And a sequin-slash-comfy sweater combo... nice touch!"

"We would absolutely love for you to sit with us," Catherine, a blonde, announced. "would you like to join us?"

I shrugged. They seemed really nice, after all, and I really wanted to get to know some more people.

"Sure, why not?" I said, picking up my tray and standing up. A bunch of the girls squealed in glee. I followed them to their table.

"Sit next to me!" Catherine called, patting the seat next to her. I slid into the seat and sighed. They were all laughing and giggling and gossiping. Immediately, it was like they had forgotten I was there.

"So, Delia, where'd you go before you came to Whitechapel?" Catherine asked. I gulped. She would probably think that I was a prep school brat if I told her. Then again, she would probably nag at me for ages until I told her where I went.

"Angels' Grove Prep," I answered a bit too quietly.

Catherine's face lit up.

"Oh, I've been there once. Nice school. Everyone there's always dressed so nicely."

Yeah, if "dressed nicely" meant completely-buttoned-down polos and mini skirts that somehow don't get girls kicked out of there.

"It's way different from here, though," I admitted with a frown. "I kind of like this place better, to be honest." Catherine just nodded like I had just had some deep, emotional monologue. I sighed and took a bite of my greasy hamburger. Several of the salad-eating girls at the table turned up their noses in disgust.

"Oh my god," a girl with mousy brown hair and a top that said "don't hate me cos you ain't me" exclaimed, sipping at her mineral water. "I got stuck with Logan Todd as a lab partner in chemistry today. He's such a geek! All he wanted to talk about was Pokémon." Two girls patted her on the back simpathetically. I remembered Logan Todd. He was a skinny, awkward guy; obsessed with any Japanese cartoon you can think of. If I can remember correctly, he had autism, and his parents were really proud of the fact that he actually talked to other kids. I wanted to call her out, to tell her that it wasn't his fault that all he wanted to talk about was a cartoon about animals that fought and whose only calls were their own names, but I was practically drowned out in a sea of "what an annoying guy"s and "maybe he's retarded"s.

"At least you weren't stuck with Karissa Southerland," Mandy Fomin, whose sister I used to go to school with, sighed, stabbing a piece of lettuce with her fork. Now Karissa I didn't feel bad for. She chose to be dumb, to bail out from doing schoolwork whenever she felt like it. "She and I were paired up in Social Studies for a project. She didn't even show up for class today! I'm going to have to do the project on my own."

Catherine hit her hand on the table really loudly.

"You two are lucky. Today Bella Friend and I had to sit with guess who?" she said, leaning in closely as if she was about to spill some top secret information. "Ethan Morgan and Rory Magellan. Can you say ew? God, those two are probably the ugliest guys in the whole school — besides Benny Weir." Blood started bubbling up in my veins. Ethan was my friend, Rory was a sweetie pie, and the last time I checked, neither of them were ugly! Benny- oh, he must've been that brunette guy joking around with Rory in home room; he's grown up- sure, he might've been a bit... erm... strange, and pretty annoying, but he wasn't that ugly. He was just going through an awkward stage, that's all.

"They're not ugly," I uttered, holding back a yell. "They're just... still growing, you know?"

Catherine smirked. "Yeah, I guess not. They're just really geeky. And pretty dumb — especially Rory."

I took a deep breath.

"Umm... I think I'm going to head out now." I cleaned up the remainder of my food and pulled out of my chair. "You guys... you guys have fun. Later." I ran past their table, ignoring their puzzled looks and expressions. I mean, I was thankful for their hospitality and all, but I couldn't take their gossip any longer- especially since it was mostly against my friend and his best friends. That was part of the reason why I never really hung out with the popular girls; they always had something rude to say.  
I had to dodge lots of lovestruck jocks, questioning cheerleaders, and treehuggers that asked me if any animals were harmed in the process of creating my sweater(which, if you're curious, the answer is no. It was made with 100% sheep wool- and the process was completely harmless to the adorable fluffy animals.), but I finally reached a table where I could sit by myself and just relax.

I took a deep breath and held it, attempting to cool my growing rage. Maybe I was wrong to have thought that this school would be better than Angels' Grove.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Braelyn**_

_Oh no. Oh gosh no._

I stared despairingly at an ocean of bodies, my eyes watering and jaw quivering at the very sight. Screams, cheers, and hollers echoed deafeningly throughout the vast cafeteria, resonating around me like the aftereffects of a sonic boom.

_This is not good._

I'd told only a select few about my irrational paranoia, but that didn't mean that I was any less intimidated. Attempting vainly to swallow my severe claustrophobia, I gulped and headed into the maelstrom of teenagers.

Complete and utter chaos surrounded me. Faces and figures blurred in my eyes, contorting into mammoth beings in my fearful mind. Bodies pressed against mine; the amount of breathable oxygen in the infinite lunchroom seemed to lessen considerably. I felt my heartbeat increase to an uncomfortable amount.

Abruptly, my mind determined that it could take no more. The world swayed around me in a vague mixture of whoops and screams, and my knees collapsed beneath me. Hazily, I recognized that my face came to sudden contact with the icy tile floor. I welcomed the cool readily(is it hot in here, or is it just me?), and, soothed somewhat, closed my eyes.

Suddenly, it clicked: I was laying facedown on the cafeteria floor. _Fainting embarrassingly + first day of school = bad reputation._ My eyes flew open and I scrambled to my knees, hoping no one had noticed.

The entire student body was gawking at me.

The brunette from my first class — Delia, I remembered — rushed toward me with a panicked expression.

"Are you okay? What happened?!"

"I…um…" I muttered, staring untrustingly at the rest of the school. My first day of school here, and I'd already been successfully humiliated.

"We need to get you an ice pack, right now. Does anyone have an extra?" she called with a strong voice. A bit too strong, I noted, wincing at the noise.

As Delia bustled off in search of an ice pack for me, I warily climbed to my feet, still not sure of whether or not I'd balance.

"Braelyn?"

At the unexpected call, my knees gave for the second time and I fell backwards. The floor rushed toward my face, and, alarmed, I squeezed them shut again. I fully expected to have a broken nose, or at least leave a few blood spatters on the floor below me.

Thankfully, I landed on something soft.

Gasping in relief, I blinked open my eyes. As my brain was still a bit slow from my mini panic attack, it took me a moment to place the image before me, but when I did, my heartbeat stopped.

It was Ethan.

"O-oh my — I-I-I'm sorry, Ethan—" I spluttered, scrambling from on top of him. _Oh my GOSH oh my gosh OH MY GOSH._

To my surprise, he chuckled, albeit awkwardly. "Heh, it's fine. Hey, um, are you alright? What happened?"

I swallowed tensely, glancing around at all the inquisitive stares around us. Ethan seemed to understand.

"Oh. Um, Braelyn, do you mind eating lunch with me? I know this awesome spot, great place for you to calm down…"

Nodding gratefully, I offered a teeny smile. It was readily returned, and the two of us began plodding through the scattered, curious crowd toward a lesser-used hallway. _Guess I'll have lunch with him after all._

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**A/N: Short chapter is short Dx Sorry about the long time with no update. We're having a few technical issues, but they've been sorted out. Thanks for reading! Comments, please!**


	8. Chapter 8

_**Delia**_

"Oh my god!"

"What's wrong with her?"

"What the heck just happened?"

A loud thud was followed by several shrill cries, which echoed through the now-silent cafeteria. I looked up from A Tale of Two Cities. Everyone was crowded into one big circle in the middle of the room. A bunch of kids were still sitting and chatting like nothing had happened, — the snobby cheerleaders and their football henchmen, more specifically — but I knew something was wrong. I got out of my chair and crept over to where the big crowd was. Looking around curiously, I tried to find the source of all the commotion. I don't see —

Holy ssshhh...ish kabobs.

In the center of the ruckus, flat out unconscious, laid a beautiful girl. Her long, blonde hair was strewn wildly over her face, and various books were scattered all around her. She must have passed out, I thought. My protective instincts kicked in, and I pushed through the mob, making my way to the poor girl.

"Excuse me, coming through."

I shook her shoulders. Her head bounced up and down limply. I shook her shoulders a second time. Nothing. I sighed and tucked a stray strand of hair behind my ear. I would have to try another technique — just... one I don't particularly like using. I took a deep breath. "WAKE UPPP!"

Her electric blue eyes shot open. She sat up immediately, looking around in a panic like a deer caught in headlights. Her chest went up and down in quick, sharp breaths.

"Are you okay? What happened?!" I gripped her shoulders. She swallowed. Her eyes darted back and forth.

"I... um..." she stammered, blinking spastically under the harsh florescent lights in the cafeteria. I sighed and let go of her.

"We need to get you an ice pack, right now. Does anyone have an extra?" I asked, shoving past a couple of football players that had joined into the crowd as soon as they saw me get up. _Ugh. You jerks sicken me._ I looked around. No one was sitting at the tables now, except for the cheerleaders — and there was no way I'd ask them for an ice pack.

I turned back and asked some other students if they had any. They shook their heads.

"I don't have one," a girl from my biology class said, shaking her head, "but there's a first aid right there. They always have ice packs." She pointed at a little box on the wall right next to the lunch line. I nodded in thanks and rushed over to the first aid, nearly ripping it open.

Nope. I fished through the sea of antiseptic ointments and band-aids in search for one of those shake-to-activate ice packs, but there was no luck. They were out of ice packs. Hooray.

I knew I couldn't go to the school nurse- the girl could have a really nasty, inflated bump on her head by then. Besides, inconveniently enough, the nurse was out on a maternity leave, and her replacement was out in the Bahamas. (Thanks for repeating that twelve times on the intercom, Vice Principal Hicks.)

Reluctantly, I realized what I had to do. Oh, I had promised myself that I wouldn't do that again, but I needed to learn. I would've gladly postponed it for later, but I knew I didn't really have many options.

I took a ziplock bag from the first aid kit and took a deep breath, readying myself for the pain. I closed my eyes and clenched my fist tightly, picturing the oh-so-familiar scene in my mind. A light, falling snow. The branches of oak and pine trees heavy with the burden of snow. The sky a bleak grey, with streaks of white running across like stripes on a zebra. My hands felt numb. I could feel sweat running down my back, even though there was a sharp breeze blowing against me. For a moment, everything felt peaceful. Then a sharp, indescribable agony pierced my fist.

The beautiful haven disappeared, fading into a darkness that dissipated back into the cafeteria. I looked down at my hand. A scar, long and pink with freshness, ran up and down the side of my wrist. Another one. It intertwined with another much-older scar, forming a ugly, squiggly line. Oh, god, she's going to think I'm cutting, I thought with a gulp. I could've told her about what I was, I could've told her about everything… but I couldn't. The secret was too important to give away. Besides, she could disown me. I didn't want to be thrown out again like I had some kind of rare, infectious disease.

I brushed off the slowly-retreating pain and unclenched my fist. Within it laid a small pack of fresh snow. As I clenched my other fist, it slowly crackled and crystalized, coming together and forming ice. _Perfect,_ I thought, slipping the ice into the ziplock. I only hoped that no one had seen me.

However, when I returned to the public area, the blonde had disappeared as if by magic. "Humph!" I dropped the bag of ice onto a table and slumped down into the chair closest to me. "I walked through the whole campus," I muttered to myself, pouting. "Where is that girl? All that work for nothing." I sighed and dropped my head onto the table. I groaned.

"Ummmm..."

I looked up.

_Shoot. _

Memories flowed back, memories of running through sprinklers and trying not to catch cooties. Before I knew what had happened, I realized that a very tall, very grown-up Benny Weir was sitting across from me(_Oh, so that's who that weird brunette from earlier was!_), looking very puzzled with half of a ham sandwich hanging out of his mouth. He was sitting right next to..._Rory._

The blond's mouth gaped. "Uhhhh..." He looked down at his Star Trek lunchbox and pushed it aside. It fell under the table with a really loud bang, and he winced.

"Heeeeeey...?" he squeaked, scratching the back of his head. I smiled and pulled out the remainder of my lunch: half a piece of cold pizza, and a jug of orange powerade. I took a small bite, still looking at the boys. They just sat there, wide-eyed, shocked that I had willingly sat with them.

"What, cat got your tongue?" I mused, sipping my yummy Powerade. No response. I sighed and put down the drink. "Well, 'kay then. Guess you guys don't want to talk with the girl that you've known since you were in preschool."

Silence. I looked down at my pizza and took another bite. _I guess they really don't want to talk to me..._ I thought with a frown.

I looked up again. Benny had cocked his head, apparently trying to find out who the heck I was. I could practically see the little hamster turning the wheel that powered his brain.

Then he spit out his Coca-Cola, lathering the whole table with the bubbly brown beverage.

"Holy..." His eyes widened with understanding. "Delia?" I raised an eyebrow, but nodded.

He looked over at Rory in shock.

"It's really...?"

Rory nodded, a smirk forming on his lips at the fact that he had known before Benny. "Yep." He turned his big blue eyes at me, smiling a little bit. "It's really her. I know; I couldn't believe it, either, when Ethan told me."

Benny chugged down the remainder of his coke and tossed the can towards the trash can, missing a lot but not really caring. "You're hot," he commented with a deciding sigh, holding his arms behind his head. "I never thought I'd say that, but you're actually hot."

Rory glared at him. "Oh, okay, so it's fine for you to say someone's hot to their face, but when I do it, you hit me upside the head," he complained, pouting. Benny hit him upside the head — ironic, no? — and rolled his eyes.

"I wasn't the one who went up to a guy dressed up as Han Solo and called him hot," he reminded Rory, tsk-ing disapprovingly. He leaned back. "And besides, with Delia it's actually true. It's like she took a sexy pill or somethi—"

"Um, hello?" I gestured at myself widely. "Delia's still in the room." Benny shrunk back, a faint blush dusting his cheeks a rosy pink.

"Well sorr-ee," he muttered, glancing down longingly at his empty sandwich wrapper. It took me a couple minutes to realize that someone was missing.

"Where's Ethan?" I asked, searching for the shy brunet. He was nowhere to be seen.

Rory shrugged.

"I don't know. Last time I saw him, he was heading out that hallway—" he pointed dramatically towards the south wing — "with a blonde girl." He furrowed his eyebrows. "And I'm pretty sure she had a nasty bump on her head."

I wanted to punch myself for not asking sooner. All that work... all that work for nothing? Now I had one more ugly scar I would have to explain to my mom, a really nasty headache, and I didn't even get to help the girl who needed the ice. Great.

"Why, did you need to tell him something?" Benny asked, sounding slightly genuine for the first time. Then I saw that devilish twinkle in his eye, and I knew he was going to say something irritating. "Because I could pass the word along to him, for the small fee of a kiss."

"No, Benny," I muttered. "And I would never, ever kiss those lips of yours. Not even if I was about to die."

He gave me a lopsided grin.

"That's my girl," he teased, holding out a hand for a high-five. I just shook my head and looked back at the hallway Rory had gestured at.

"So they went that way, huh?" I asked him, pointing down the hall. He nodded.

"That's where I saw them g—" His eyes filled with interest. "What happened to your arm? It's all swollen and red. Did you cut yourself or something?" I looked down at my arm. My pink sweater sleeve had rolled up, exposing the fresh, baby-pink scar that had intertwined with the old one. I made a little squeak of terror and rolled the sleeve back down.

"Uhhh…" I let out a deep sigh and ran a hand through my hair, trying not to seem anxious. "C-c-curling iron. I — ahhh, I burned myself with a curling iron." Rory still didn't seem to back down.

"But…" he started. He grabbed my arm and, before I could stop him, he pulled the sleeve back up. He began to inspect my arm, and I almost wanted to punch him in the face — but I couldn't. He was just trying to help. "It doesn't seem like a burn — it's too squiggly. It seems more like you…" His eyes got darker, and it took him a couple seconds for him to practically purr, "cut yourself."

I yanked my arm away from him and gave him a weird look. "Um… okay," I said, covering up the scars again. "But I swear, it was the curling iron." Rory didn't answer, he just sat there with those unusually dark eyes trained right on my arm. It was really, really weird.

"Anyway, I have to go," I said, looking at my watch. I stood up and took my backpack — plus my empty Powerade bottle. "It was nice seeing you guys again," I admitted with a smile. Rory's eyes got back to normal. It looked like he had been in a trance.

"Oh." Then he was his normal self again, dorky and sweet. He smiled, saying, "Oh, okay. See you later, then, Delia!" I couldn't help but smile back.

I made my way past their table, ignoring the weird looks from the cheerleaders that I had sat with earlier.

"Oh! And Delia?" Benny called, making me whirl around.

"Yeah?"

He smiled cheekily. "You single?"


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Wow, so you guys have been demanding some passionate scenes lately. Well…here you are! (this is totally not passionate but whatever.) Do you like? This is my first time writing a kissing scene, so comments, please! Grazie for all the love~**_  
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_******Also, if you commented as a guest, I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT REPLYING BUT I DON'T BELIEVE IT'S PHYSICALLY POSSIBLE AND IT HAS BEEN DRIVING ME INSANE SO YEAH.**  
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_**Braelyn**_

Ethan led me swiftly through the winding halls. I attributed his rapid pace to the fact that lunch was almost over, but that didn't stop me from stumbling from time to time.

Finally, after I'd been tottering in his wake for nearly five minutes, my crush stopped abruptly, sending me blundering into his back. I scrambled back, spluttering apologies, but Ethan waved them away. His expression intent, the teen grasped the iron handle of the thick door he'd paused in front of and heaved backward.

Quirking a concerned eyebrow, I glanced above the heavy door and quickly scanned the rusty sign hanging overhead. WARNING: Absolutely NO Entry Beyond This Point. Gulping, I attempted vainly to swallow my nerves and relish the alone time I was having with Ethan.

After a couple tedious seconds, the heavy door succumbed to the teen's exertion and creaked heavily open. Ethan released the handle, brushed off his hands, and offered one to me. I shyly accepted the gesture, and together we slipped past the door.

Sudden brightness blinded me, and I had to pause for a moment to let my eyes adjust. Once I could see again, I blinked open my eyes, and my jaw dropped at the scene before me.

Our school had been built perched on a hill that towered above the surrounding land. The result was a fantastic view from the rear of the building. A beguiling fall landscape stretched all around; dashes of red, yellow, and orange synchronized harmoniously to paint the manifestation of autumn beauty.

When I turned to face Ethan, my expression one of shock, I caught him smiling at me in an unreadable way. He reflexively turned away, a bright blush spreading rapidly across his cheeks.

_What was that?_

I decided to drop the matter, and instead queried, "How did you find this place?"

His gaze was still averted from mine, but he turned toward me again. "Uh…I've never actually been up here before. Intuition, I guess?" He laughed nonchalantly.

"Wow, that's really lucky."

"Yeah."

I stared at my feet, mentally strategizing our next conversation and what I would do to keep it lively, but looked up again when Ethan _ahem-_ed.

"Um, I brought my lunch with me. I've already had enough, you can have the rest if you want…"

My eyes flew open in surprise. "Oh, no! I couldn't eat your food, that would be mean of me…" I protested. "I'm not even hungry, it's seriously fine." My stomach chose that minute to betray me, releasing an angry moan of hunger. Out of nerves, I'd forgotten to eat that morning and hadn't had a chance to just then, so the grumble was not unexpected, but I still closed my eyes in embarrassment.

A soft laugh, then, "Here." Something nudged my forearm.

I opened my eyes. Ethan had extended half of a ham sandwich toward me, his expression urging me to accept. Sighing, I smiled my thanks and took the food.

I was still feeling a tad dizzy from my incident earlier, so I sat down on the grass to eat. Ethan joined me. For a moment, we sat in silence, me munching my sandwich quietly and him staring into the distance. When I'd finished off the small meal, I looked up to find him gazing not at the landscape, but at me again.

I blinked, surprised, but this time he didn't look away. Instead, he vaguely gravitated closer, slowly closing the gap between us. My heartbeat was pounding violently, so loud I was sure he could hear it. That worry disappeared when he leaned in and took my lips in his.

All time stopped. My eyes, which had flown open in surprise, slowly slid shut as I relished the sensation. Ethan's lips were warm, soft, gentle; they tasted like honey and something distinctly different. This was perfect. This was the best feeling. My heart fluttered in my chest, alive with happiness.

Too soon, however, the sensation ended. Ethan abruptly pulled away, looking horrified as if he couldn't believe what had just happened.

"I…Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry…" he stuttered. I wanted to assure him that it was most definitely all right, wanted to lean in and kiss him again, but I couldn't find the courage. Instead, I tried to communicate with my eyes my extreme delight in these new developments.

"I just…It was…You're so quiet all the time, Iwasn'tsureifyoulikedmebacksoItook ariskbutohmygoshI'msuchanidiot I have to go." His face pasty white, he stumbled to his feet and took off at a jog through the door.

Alone on the hill, my mouth agape, I sat in shock. None of that last sentence had I understood, save for "you're so quiet all the time" and "I have to go". What had just happened?

My first kiss. My first kiss, and it had ended in disaster. Did Ethan like me or no? Had he not enjoyed kissing me? Maybe he had a girlfriend, and it was I who had unwittingly leaned in and kissed him, instead of the reverse.

_Oh my gosh. I screwed everything up._ My cheeks aflame with embarrassment, I waveringly climbed to my feet and stood. I had to use the wall as support, my knees were so wobbly. _I'm such an idiot! I bet it was me who kissed him, it's the kind of dense thing I would do…_

_ Ethan, I'm so sorry._


	10. Chapter 10

_**Delia**_

**A/N: Sorry for taking so long, loves. I've been very busy. Anyway, a lot of you have been requesting some kissy-kissy RoryxDelia and EthanxBraelyn scenes. Challenge accepted! Haha. Stay tuned for special scenes with your OTP — whether it be Relia or Brethan!**

**Hey, guys. This is Kristine, Braelyn's author. I just wanted to let you know that we might have some problems updating the Delia chapters; Nicky, Delia's writer, is kind of on-and-off grounded. Just hang in there with us! We'll try to update more often soon. I run the account, by the way, so if you have any questions/comments for Nicky, just PM me and I'll forward them to her.**

**Thanks for reading!**

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_Of course. Out of all the times it could rain, it had to be now._ I let out a loud sigh and pulled on my _Angels' Grove Angels 1979_ hoodie. It had a hood, which was pretty convenient for the downpour that was falling outside. Crossing my fingers that it wasn't raining really hard, I pushed open the door and stepped out into the humid out-of-doors. Okay, it wasn't too bad. At least it wasn't windy. I could probably reach my house without dying of pneumonia.

As soon as I came out from under the shelter of the school's roof, a torrent of cold water welcomed me. _Hooray._ I had to stand out in the rain for a second to adjust to the temperature.

"Watch it," some guy snapped as he pushed past me. I fell backwards into a nearby rose bush.

"_You_ watch it," I muttered, pulling myself out of the prickly plant.

I shot him a dirty look as he ran out into the rain. "Oooouch." I looked down at my jeans. Not only were they soaked, but there was a huge thorn stuck in the thigh area. I writhed in pain as I yanked the thorn out of my thigh. There was a huge hole in my jeans now.

"Great. Just great," I groaned as I rubbed at my scratch. I ran a hand through my soaking-wet hair and jogged out in the chilly rain.

I really, _really_ wished I had an umbrella — I was chilled to the bone. The rain was falling down in sheets. I felt like I was in a hurricane, although I don't know what it would be like. I was guessing it was just like this; cold, wet, and super windy. I don't think I would ever want to be in a hurricane, although it did seem like a nice alternative to the torrential rains we experienced here in Whitechapel. It was like the entire ocean was filtered and dropped on our tiny little town — we could honestly stop droughts with it.

I felt my phone vibrate in my hoodie's pocket, and I was almost too afraid to take it out. It was nice and dry in there, and even just one little drop of the rain could mess it up permanently. Still, it could've been something important. Sighing, I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and took out my phone. Thankfully, its blue polka-dot case protected the screen from any of the rain. Plus, it was slowing down. I squinted down at the screen. It was difficult to see against the brightness of the whitish-grey sky.

_'One new message from "Mommy :)"_'

I sighed and put in my password. It must have been something important.

_'It's raining hard. U ok?'_

I was pretty sure I would know if it was raining hard, but I knew she meant well. She was probably really busy at the moment- maybe even driving home from work. Dad was probably still at work. I texted her back, although every bone in my frozen body wanted to keep walking home.

_'Yeah, I'm fine. I'll be home in a little.'_

I slipped my phone back in my pocket and kept on walking. The rain was stopping a little, but the wind was still bone-chilling. I honestly didn't understand why the bus didn't go to my house, especially on days like this. _Selfish little bus drivers._

I kicked a pebble down the street. It bounced on the concrete, landing in a little puddle that was forming beside the road. A small bug hopped out of the puddle, obviously terrified now that something had disrupted its alone time. I felt bad for it. It was probably as cold as I was.

The rain finally stopped after what felt like hours. My clothes were just starting to dry off, and my body was slowly gaining warmth again. My pink sweater was somewhat sticking to my skin, and the soft material felt surprisingly itchy. I wanted to take my hoodie and sweater off and walk the rest of the way in a tank top, but I knew that wasn't an option. I would freeze to death.

My phone beeped by the time I reached the crosswalk that led into my street. The short little tune broke the quiet harmony of whistling wind and raindrops pitter-pattering on the concrete. I was actually kind of glad to hear something that wasn't wind rushing past my chilled ears. I pulled out my phone and read the text.

_'Okay. Love u.'_

I smiled and put my phone back.

I slipped my hands into my pockets and walked the rest of the way, humming. It was a silly little tune, one that I had heard many times on the radio while driving around town, but it kept me entertained. In less than ten minutes I reached my house.

The big, friendly-looking brick house practically radiated warmth. It had turned a dark maroon color with the rain. The wind chimes hanging next to the porch were ringing out in the wind. I could hear chatter floating in from inside the house.

My hand fished in my back pocket for the house keys.

"Here we go," I said to myself, taking them out of my pocket. I fumbled with the lock until the door slid open. I quickly slinked through and closed the door behind me. Sighing with relief, I leaned against the door and threw my backpack towards the stairs. I was finally home.

The house was filled with chaos. Marleigh, my sixteen-year-old sister, was yelling on the phone about some girl that stole her crush. My youngest brother, Davis, was running up and down the staircase completely covered in paint and in his underwear, singing, "I'm not going to take a show-er! I'm not going to take a show-er!" My mom was running after him, trying to catch the slippery little boy. The twelve-year-old dork, Aiden, was sitting at the kitchen table, eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and screeching at something on the TV. Joshua, who's seventeen, sat on the couch, squealing in harmony with Aiden. Destiny, who had yet to turn one, was crawling down the hall after the family dog.

"I'm home," I called out, pulling off my hoodie. No answer. All six (seven, counting 'Boo' the Golden Retriever) of my family members were too busy to notice. I rolled my eyes and ran up the stairs into my room. Slamming the door behind me, I jumped onto my bed and lay onto my back. I needed a break from it all. I pulled on my headphones and left the chaotic world around me.


	11. Chapter 11

_**Braelyn**_

The rest of the school day passed in a blur. I suspect that I built up a shell around myself to avoid unwanted and unnecessary social contact. Minutes became hours, and before I knew it, the time had come to head home from school.

I had decided earlier to take the bus home, so after I'd packed up my belongings I clambered onto the rickety vehicle, settled down in a secluded corner, and shut the world out.

Apparently, the world didn't appreciate my ignoring its existence.

The only word to describe the ride home was this: chaos. Paper airplanes soared overhead by the dozen, occasionally zooming too close and bonking me on the head. Immature teenagers squealed, screamed, and hollered excitedly, oblivious to the torture they were putting me through. Ferocious volleys of spitballs flew, blonde cheerleaders sang obnoxiously to the tune of "Live While We're Young," and jocks grappled and shoved at each other roughly, rocking the poor bus from side to side. Each factor added up to produce a tremendous headache for little old me. _As if I didn't have enough on my mind already,_ I droned irately.

Nevertheless, there was no escape from the perdition, so I was forced to shut out the mayhem as best I could and begin to consider my first day of public school.

I tried to start off on a positive note. _Let's see, no bullies, no food poisoning via ghastly school lunches, no intolerable teachers; it was overall an okay day. If only…_

_Gah!_ I refused to think of the drama entailed in the more…exciting part of my day._ No. Bad Braelyn. You can think about that later. What else happened that could be beneficial?_

_Made a couple of friends, kind of. Hm, acquaintances is a more accurate word…but still! Anything else? No miserable classes, no arch-enemies, no humiliating accidents. I seem to have been having a lucky day. Kind of._

The school bus came to a screeching halt, signaling the end of my journey. Luckily for me, my stop was the first one the bus made. Three or four students leapt to their feet, apparently eager as I was to escape that carful of hooligans. I gathered my things, much more placidly than my peers, and awkwardly made my way to the exit at the front of the bus.

As soon as my feet touched the ground, the bus's doors slammed shut and the vehicle sped around a corner. I was somewhat concerned for the bus's safety, and that of its occupants, but pushed the matter behind me. I was nearly home; there I could ponder my day's more dramatic events in peace. At my house, I was rarely sought out; sometimes I suspected that my aunt, uncle, and cousins avoided me to an extent.

After a couple minutes' weary trudging, I finally reached my home's doorstep. The front door was always unlocked at that home, as a family rule, so I didn't bother knocking.

I slipped into the cool quiet of my home. My aunt was in the kitchen, humming as she stirred the batter for some form of pastry. Uncle Bobby was most likely still caught up at work. Rebekka and Ally, two of my cousins, were in the corner of the den, giggling over some random Youtube video that they were viewing on Ally's iPad. My third and final cousin, Brent, had claimed the den's extensive couch. He was sprawled over the sofa, surrounded by empty bags of potato chips and gum wrappers. I wrinkled my nose at his flamboyant position and headed to the attic, my room.

No one acknowledged my presence as I climbed the stairs to my room. It wasn't as if they ever did, but I still yearned for some appreciation.

_You should be grateful, Braelyn,_ a protestant voice inside of me chided disapprovingly. This family had taken me in when I had nowhere to go, so I was quite deep in debt to them. I wouldn't be so unappreciative as to complain over their not doting on me twenty-four seven.

A short, squat door was sited in a corner of the hallway, blocking the rest of my attic room from view. I had to duck my head to get inside, but once I did, the room was spacious. Perhaps a little too spacious, even. I shivered as an icy draft tickled my exposed forearms.

The vast size of my room contrasted almost humorously with my miniscule bed, which was cloaked in a homely old quilt. I loved that blanket to no end; it was the last present I had ever received from my dear parents.

A wooden nightstand bore a couple of my other most prized possessions; two well-worn photographs. The color was nearly rubbed off of them after years of my tender caressing.

My father, his salt-and-pepper hair roguishly tousled, had a beaming grin on his face. I remembered that to be his expression of either great excitement or jovial contentedness. His wire-framed glasses were crooked across his face, and his gray eyes were wild with enthusiasm, but his face couldn't be more beautiful to me.

My mother stood at his side, a sweet, caring smile dancing at her delicate lips. Her flowing blonde locks framed her angular face perfectly, bringing out the brilliant blue in her azure eyes. The camera had caught her gazing lovingly at my father.

It was she who had taught me to favor eloquence; ever since I could talk my mother urged me to study English with zeal. After their passing, I couldn't help but to apply her wish to my daily life.

I felt my heart melt with longing. They had both passed when I was only seven years old, though their memory lived vivaciously in me, their only child. The last live image I had of them was their cheerful faces smiling comfortingly at me as they waved goodbye before boarding the plane that would be their grave.

Remembering the wonderful childhood I'd been blessed with never failed to calm me down, and today was no different. The drama I'd experienced with Ethan seemed no more crucial and depressing than the History paper due next week. I settled down in my bed and began to think matters over.

_Okay, the biggest issue is whether he kissed me or vice versa._ My heart fluttered delicately with restrained euphoria as I pondered my first kiss. _Also, who is Delia? Do they have a…special relationship or something? They seemed to act fairly familiar with each other; I should try to figure that out soon._

With a jolt, I realized that this was still my first day of school. So much drama had occurred in the past several hours that this morning seemed weeks away. _Oh my goodness, I've only known him for a few hours and we've already kissed. Maybe that means something?_

_Assuming that it was I who kissed him, he definitely didn't could either mean that he was too surprised to react, felt bad and didn't want to reject me, or actually enjoyed it._

_If it was the second, why would he have abruptly jumped up and ran off? I think I can rule that one out._

_That means that he either returns my feelings or wasn't expecting a kiss in the least. Which is it? I'll have to figure that out…I should talk to Delia about him. Maybe she could provide some answers._

A racket crashed outside, making me jump. I clambered off my bed and peered through the shutters of my window curiously. A dark-haired girl, hoodie shrouding her face, was plodding wearily through the rain. She angled her face slightly towards me, and I realized that she was Delia, Ethan's friend. I watched, now interested, as she trudged a few more yards, then turned to the left towards the house next door.

_Does she live there?_

Sure enough, after stumbling up the three steps to the house's door, Delia inserted a shiny key into the lock and turned it, swinging the door open.

_Wow. That's convenient._

Really, it wasn't much of a surprise that she lived there without my knowing. I had only officially met her today, so I wouldn't have remembered her; also, I rarely ventured beyond my room. Obviously, I had just never had the chance to meet her prior to today.

If Delia was home, I could consult her about my interesting relationship with Ethan, and perhaps discover whether or not he had feelings for her. I had been introduced to an opportunity that could solve everything, and possibly pair me up with a certain handsome brunet.

I stood up from my crouch at the window. I was going to visit Delia.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Delia**_

Before I realized it, my music playlist had ended. My earphones fell out of my ears lifelessly, and I tossed them to the side. I laid on my back and stared up at the ceiling.

My room looked exactly the same as it did during Christmas the year before, except a couple of little Santa Claus figurines and my big, showy Christmas tree had been stowed away in the garage months ago. I had never bothered to take down any of my old posters and decorations. Twinkly lights hung from the walls, serving as a reading light for me in the wee hours of the morning. Posters of athletes and celebrities — mainly Misty May-Treanor and Ed Sheeran — decorated one small corner of my spacious room, bringing along a lively splash of color.

Occasionally, the baby-blue walls gave way to a small drawing of a heart or a flower — things that I had drawn a couple years back. A wooden bookshelf, full to the brim with books that I had read so many times I had memorized them, was pushed to the side, beside my bed. On top of it sat a ten gallon fish tank, which held my beloved Damien and Marina — a bala shark and an African cichlid.

Beside the tank sat a picture of Ethan, Benny, Rory, and I from waaay back. We were probably four, five years old. I was wearing an Ariel bathing suit, and the boys were wearing swimming trunks. Benny was chasing me around the kiddy pool, trying to catch me. I was laughing and squirting him with a water gun.

I couldn't help but smile as I placed the picture back down on the bookshelf. I missed those days.

A knock came at my door. I whirled around, a bit surprised. I thought everyone was busy. "Come in," I called, lying on my stomach and kicking my legs high in the air. The door creaked open, and Joshua and Aiden piled in. I rolled my eyes.

"What do you guys want?" I grabbed a stray bag of sour patch kids from atop the bookcase. Josh kicked off his shoes and threw them somewhere in his room.

"Nothing," Josh said, ripping the bag of delicious treats out of my hands. He then proceeded to bite off a poor little red one's head, chewing like an animal. "Just wanted to see if you were dead or not." His chewing at the same time as he spoke made it sound like he was talking in German.

"Can I have one?" Aiden asked, giving Josh the puppy dog face that worked oh-so-well on everyone. Josh glanced over at Aiden for a couple seconds, then shook his head and devoured a couple other sour patch kids.

"Nope." He stuffed the bag down his shirt. I rolled my eyes. This happened _way_ too often at my house. It was like my entire family consisted of cats permanently high on catnip.

"Hand it over, bobble-head," I ordered, holding my hand out. Josh shook his head yet again and stuffed his hand down his shirt to pick up another piece of candy. The old nickname I had for him didn't seem to affect him in the least. Before, he probably would have tackled me to the ground and slapped me silly. Then again, I think he would've been too scared to do that.

"C'mon, Joshua, please?" I begged. I hadn't eaten those little guys in months. He groaned and slipped the bag from under his shirt, handing it to me. I eagerly tore it from his greedy hands and plopped an orange one into my mouth.

Aiden gave me the puppy dog face this time.

"Pweeeeeeeeez?" he pleaded. He knew I couldn't resist anything that was in the least bit adorable. I rolled my eyes and handed him a couple of yellow sour patch kids- his favorite. He smiled gratefully and ran off into his room.

"God, Del, you're such a softie," Josh murmured, rolling onto his side. Somewhere downstairs, the doorbell rang. I doubted that anyone was going to answer — Mom was still struggling to get Davis into the bathtub and Marleigh was still yacking away on her phone — so I decided that I should go and check out who it was.

"Ugh. I'll go check it out." I looked over at Josh, who was still contently lying on my once-made bed. "Get off!" I pushed him off the mussed bed and straightened it up the best I could. The doorbell rang yet again. Whoever it was, they really wanted to be answered.

"Get out of my room," I said with a groan, pushing him out. I closed the door behind him. "Jeez, Del," he said, rubbing his arm where I hit him. I ignored his whines and ran down the stairs, running a hand through my slightly messy hair. As I rushed down the hallway that led to the front door, I pulled my hair into a quick bun and did a quick inspection of myself in the hallway mirror. I decided that I looked good enough and went to open the door.

"He—" I stopped mid-sentence. A familiar girl stood in front of me, wearing a flimsy, soaked-through grey hoodie. Her blonde locks peeked out from her hood, and she looked like she was really, really nervous about something.

She gave me a small wave.

"I don't think we ever formerly introduced ourselves. I-I'm Braelyn."

I led Braelyn into my house and watched as she carefully and cautiously placed her wet jacket on the coat hanger. I opened my mouth to tell her that no one used that coat hanger anymore, and that we honestly didn't care if she left a small trail of water droplets down the hall, but I closed my mouth when I guessed that she was cold and didn't want that drenched thing on.

"I can get you a blanket, if you want," I said, noticing her shivers. "It's cold out there. You wouldn't want to catch a cold, would you?" I blinked when I realized that I sounded like my grandmother. Now that was a creepy thought. She shook her head and politely declined my suggestion.

"No, it's fine, thank you," she said in a small voice. My smile faded just a little bit.

"Oh. Well, the offer's still up later, if you want it," I promised, taking her hand and leading her down the hallway. She nodded and gave a little smile.

"Thanks."

Aiden glanced up from the violent video game on the television and raised an eyebrow at the soaking wet, shivering figure beside me. "Who's this?" he asked, pausing his game so he could divert his entire attention to us. I looked over at Braelyn, unsure of how to respond.

"Ah… she's a friend, Aiden," I said, beginning to walk again.

"But who is she?" He was persistent; I had to give him that. I let out a loud sigh.

"Like I said: a friend, Aiden. Just keep playing your game, okay?"

Aiden pouted, but continued to play _Call of Duty_ like nothing had happened.

"Sorry about that, Braelyn," I apologized. My brother was just a bit too nosy sometimes.

"It's fine."

Once we had reached the top of the stairs, Braelyn seemed to kind of spring to life. She finally started talking. I had been afraid that she had turned into a mute or something.

"Who was that?" she asked in a curious voice. Her big blue eyes were even wider than when she had passed out in the cafeteria. I shrugged.

"My brother, Aiden," I explained. "He's a nosy little bugger. Just ignore him."

"Alright."

I opened my bedroom door and, thankfully, Josh hadn't broken in again. God knows what would have happened if Braelyn would've seen him. He was a strange little child.

"Nice room," she commented, glancing up and down at everything- from the posters hanging from the walls, to the books hidden in the bookcase. I felt a blush creep up onto my cheeks.

I hoped that she approved of all of my stuff. She seemed like the type of girl that wasn't exactly a big fan of Ed Sheeran, hunky athletes like Tom Daley and Matt Anderson, and books like The Hunger Games and The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

I smiled faintly in thanks. "Thank you."

She plopped down on my bed and awkwardly picked up one of my pillows. I sat down beside her.

"So! Why'd you come over?" I asked. I was pretty curious; I really had no idea why she had come over. I half-expected her to mumble something vague like, _"Oh, I just — I —um…reasons."_

Her blue eyes darted back and forth. It seemed like she didn't want to answer my question.

"Hmmm?" I glanced over at her, confused. She let out a deep sigh and gestured for me to come closer.

"I…I…are you and Ethan, like…together…?"

* * *

**A/N: And thus their lives are intertwined forevermore. How'd you guys feel about this chapter? We know there wasn't much action, but it'll pick up soon, we promise.**

**Hehe, Braelyn's so much fun to write…**

**Anyway. Comments! Please!**


	13. Chapter 13

_**Braelyn**_

I winced, afraid I'd asked an unacceptable question. Delia's expression was one of shock, bemusement, and largely just blank.

"Uhhhhh…what?" she exclaimed. I jumped, now sure of my inquiry's brashness, and stumbled to take back the question.

"S-sorry, I d-didn't mean to — I mean — I — ugh, I'm so hopeless…"

"Nononono, it's fine. I just…what?" To my surprise, the gorgeous teen actually laughed. "Of course we're not together. We were best friends as kids, that's all."

My sigh of relief must have been louder than I meant it to be, because she peered at me strangely. "Why do you ask?"

"…erm…"

She gasped, her lipglossy mouth forming a self-satisfied 'O'. "Oh. Em. Gee! You DO like him, don't you?"

"Uhh…I plead the fifth?"

"Holy carbs, this is so CUUUUUTE!" she squealed gleefully. "I can't believe you actually like Ethan. What on earth do you see in him? Maybe 'geeky' is just your type…I'm so happy for you, sweetie!" Delia reached over the bed to give me a suffocating side-hug.

At that point, my helpless "mrrrp" of discomfort apparently brought her out of her exaggerated visions of who-knows-what. She released me from her strangling embrace and held me at arms' length.

"Braelyn. Girl, you okay? You're kind of pale…"

I hadn't been this terrified in years. _Why on earth did I ever come over here_ voluntarily? I questioned myself.

Shaking, I nodded my response. "Y-yes."

"What's wrong?" Delia tilted her head inquisitively. She seemed to be completely oblivious to my extreme perturbation.

"Erm…nothing. I'm fine." Sensing that a change in conversation would be best, I added, "How long have you known each other?"

Smiling, Delia crinkled her eyes and thought. After a moment, she responded, "Since we were two, maybe three. Our moms knew each other when we were kids. It wasn't till middle school that we lost contact. He, Rory, Benny, and I were the best of friends. We all got along really well, but it was Ethan who really knew me the best. And I happen to know for a fact," she poked me in the belly, "that you are most certainly his type."

A furious blush consumed my face, and I quickly averted my eyes. I didn't know how to react. How does one react to a statement like that? Thankfully, I was saved from scrounging up an adequate response when Delia's door burst open.

A nauseous-looking boy stood in the doorway, holding his stomach and cringing in pain. "Delia…I don't feel so good…" he mumbled, before heaving his insides out directly onto her fluffy rug.

"Holy — Josh! Why would you — oh my —"

Josh seemed to realize the wrath he'd wreaked upon himself, and promptly made himself scarce. Delia and I stared despondently at the mess before I sighed and stood up.

"Do you have any rags?" I asked distractedly, already on my way toward the hallway in search for a bathroom.

She was on her feet instantly. "Whoa, whoa. You don't have to help. My mom'll clean it up —"

"No, really, it's fine. If it sits for long, it won't come out all the way, and you might have to buy another rug. Could I please have an old rag? The stink might not come out, so it'd preferably be one you don't plan on using much more."

Delia just blinked. After a moment, she shrugged and headed toward where I supposed the laundry room would be. "Whatever floats your boat, I guess."

Minutes later, I was hard at work scrubbing the acidic vomit from Delia's rug. My brow was furrowed with concentration as I insured that every drop of the foul liquid had been cleaned off.

Finally, satisfied with my work, I stood from my kneeling position and glanced at Delia. She was gawking incoherently at me, as if wondering why on earth someone would voluntarily offer to clean up barf.

Things got awkward again as the brunette continued to search my face, as if it encased the very meaning of life. After a few long seconds, I coughed and turned away.

"Um. I should be going. Thanks so much for having me over, it was great seeing you!" I faltered, still uneasy.

At her lack of response, I half-smiled, gathered my hoodie and cellphone, and hustled out of her room with my head low. Before I could escape, however, her clear, melodic voice halted me.

"You're totally his type, you know."

"U-um, thanks?"

With that, I ducked under my hood and hurriedly exited the house. Quickly drying puddles of fallen rainwater lay strewn about between our houses, threatening to ruin my well-worn sneakers, but I paid them no heed.

I slipped inside once again. My own secluded room seemed to me the most beautiful place in the world right then. However, my quick escape was interrupted by a voice cold and demanding.

"Where were you, dear?"

I shivered at my aunt's tone. When I turned to face her, hiding under my hood, I nearly froze up at her obviously fake smile. Her brow was furrowed and her grin was frigid.

"Out."

"Well, that's hardly an answer, now is it?"

My jaw was begging to chatter with nerves, but I forced it to be steady. "I was at a friend's house."

"Really now, were you? I don't believe you ever mentioned that you have a 'friend.'"

_Maybe I would have if you had actually showed some interest in my life for once!_ a defiant voice inside of me wanted to shout. Instead, I shushed my inner ungrateful dissent and forced a smile just as fake as my aunt's.

"I'm sorry, my mistake. If you'll excuse me, Aunt Lettie, I have a few things that I need to take care of before tomorrow. Homework."

With that, I ducked my head and darted for the stairs.

* * *

**A/N: You lucky ducks. Two updates in one night! I had nothing to do(except for study for finals… x.x) so I decided to get this done.**

**Poor Braelyn…By the way, should I make her aunt more impartial toward Brae or actually disliking her? I couldn't decide, so could you leave some comments telling me how you feel?  
**

**Thanks for reading!  
**


	14. Chapter 14

_**Delia**_

It had been about a month and a half after my brief conversation with Braelyn when I finally saw her again. She was walking down the street where we lived, glancing down at her phone. Her golden head of hair was pulled up into a messy bun, but on her it looked nice. I wanted to speak to her, but I was afraid that she would run away. Our most recent meeting didn't go so well. Last time I had spoken to her, she was mopping up my brother's vomit from a rug. So, yeah, I didn't think it would be a good idea to talk to her again for a while.

Throwing my hands into my pockets, I continued my trek over to Ethan's house. He had called me only a couple minutes before, asking me to come over. When I had asked him why, he had just said "Because," and hung up. I wondered why he was inviting me over, but I was sure there was a reason. Plus, I liked going to Ethan's house. Mr. and Mrs. Morgan always had something nice to say to me.

I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and picked up my shoe, giving it a squeeze. A bunch of chlorine water spilled out, filling the air with the chemical's faint smell for a second. It had been unusually warm this week, so I had taken it as an excuse to go to the pool with my friends. Plus, it was only early October; usually October was a warm month for Whitechapel. I put on my shoe again and continued walking, wringing my pink polka-dot towel over my shoulders. My hair was still dripping wet, and I didn't like the sensation of the sticky, hot water running down my back.

I glanced up. A few minutes before, the sky had been sunny and cloudless. Now plump little clouds appeared every now and then, like little pieces of cotton candy that someone had strewn across a table. Looking back down again, I realized that I had nearly ran into a stop sign. I chuckled and moved out of the path of the sign. That would've hurt a _lot_.

Reaching Ethan's front door pretty quickly, I knocked on the doorbell. I looked down at my fingernails, which had been unpainted by the chlorine in the pool water. It would probably be a while until Ethan would answer the door, since he was most likely playing video games online with Benny or something like that. Surprisingly enough, though, he answered pretty quickly. He looked flustered.

"H-hey. Come in."

He glanced at my chest for a split second, then blushed and turned away pretty quickly. He had always felt awkward whenever I was around him in a bikini. I'd never quite understood why.

"Rory, Benny, Sarah, come down here," he called, facing the stairs. I wrapped my towel tighter around my shoulders.

The two goofballs came running down the stairs, joking around about some girl at school that passed out when she saw that she had gotten tweeted by Justin Bieber. The girl that was behind them, though…I didn't know who she was. I vaguely remembered her from my homeroom class, but other than that she was a complete stranger. She gave me a faint smile when she noticed I was looking at her. The boys, on the other hand, had a completely different reaction.

"Whoa." Benny raised an eyebrow. "Delia Sinclair in a bikini top? See, that's something I thought I'd never see." He grinned cheekily. "I like it." I rolled my eyes at him and smacked the side of his arm.

"And this is the only time you're going to see it," I snapped, turning back to the others.

Rory didn't speak. He just stood there, forgetting to blink every once in a while. I felt a blush creep onto my cheeks. "I-I —" He cleared his throat, flicking some blonde hair out of his eyes. "H-hey, Delia." I managed a smile at him; he wasn't gawking at my barely-exposed chest like Benny was.

"Hi, Rory."

I glanced over at Ethan, who was looking around nervously like it was the most awkward moment he had ever experienced. I let out a sigh and stood beside him.

"So, Ethan, why'd you want me to come over?" I asked, crossing my arms across my chest. He seemed to immediately regret his decision of asking me over, because he gulped and visibly paled.

"Ah…ah….um…"

The pretty girl named Sarah elbowed him in the shoulder, as if to say, _'Just tell her already!'_ She gave him an encouraging smile. I had a feeling that, at one point, they might have had a thing for each other. (Which would be very, _very_ bad news for Braelyn.)

"Uh…" Ethan's eyes darted back and forth. He reminded me of Braelyn when she collapsed on the cafeteria floor.

"We need your help," Benny blurted out, giving Ethan an annoyed look. "It's a long story, really, but we'll tell you on the way there."

I raised an eyebrow. "Need my help with what?" I asked. I wasn't going to help them with something I didn't know about- especially if Benny was involved. He was… well, kind of creepy around me. Benny stepped forward and, for the first time, he actually didn't look smug.

"I _said_, 'It's a long story, but we'll tell you on the way there'," he repeated, crossing his arms. I rolled my eyes.

"Alright. Just as long as I get to put something else on," I said, gesturing at my barely-clad body. Ethan gulped yet again.

Sarah rummaged in her bag and pulled out an super long tee shirt. "Here, put this on," she said, handing it to me. I gave a faint smile of thanks.

"Now let's head out before the creepy little girl starts to yell at us."

I was unsure of what that statement meant, but still followed them out the door and out onto the street.

* * *

**A/N: What? Why isn't Braelyn in on this? I'll have to talk to Nicky about that… xD We're pretty much just making this up as we go, you know. That's probably why we just ended the first day after thirteen chapters…**

**Anyway, comments please!**

** ~Kristine(Braelyn's writer)**


	15. Chapter 15

_**Braelyn**_

"Ethan? N-now that no one's listening…I have something to tell you…"

I exhaled nervously, heart racing, face flushing, all in anticipation of these next three words. "Iloveyou."

No response. "I really do, Ethan. I swear. Ever since we met first day of school…Ethan?"

A nasal, mocking voice interrupted my hopeful rambling. "_Ohhhh, Ethan, I loooooooove you so much! You're so handsome, and beautiful, and sexy~ Marry me, Ethan!_"

I stiffened, eyes wide and face ablaze. _Oh no oh no oh no oh no…_

The jeer ended with a teasing cackle. My arrogant cousin, Brent, swaggered loftily into view, a smirk stretched across his pale face. "Who's this Ethan dude? Some sixth grader who's unlucky enough to be your crush? I bet he's a total geek. I should beat him up sometime."

Huffing, I turned away. My cheeks were scarlet with humiliation. Why did Brent always have to appear whenever and wherever I wanted him 'not' to be present?

"For your information, he's in my grade. And he's not a geek. Not one of those awkward ones, anyway." I mumbled the last sentence under my breath, so as not to give Brent any reason to torment poor Ethan.

He snorted. "Suuuuure. Whatever. I'll be upstairs, if anyone wants me." Grabbing a bag of sticky marshmallows, the obnoxious teen took off toward his room in a stampede.

_Gross._ I shivered, disgusted. How could he eat marshmallows by themselves like that? It was like eating raw sugar, plus about fifty artificial ingredients not even meant to be consumed by the human race.

Still slightly in shock by the embarrassing experience of being caught swooning, I snatched a nice, _healthy_ snack consisting of a banana and some almonds, then heading in the vague direction of the family room in the hopes that the uber-comfy couch was unoccupied. I had no idea what my twin cousins were up to, and they both particularly liked the family room, but it was worth a try.

However, I was interrupted by a somewhat urgent knock on my front door. Seeing as nobody else seemed to be willing to actually move and answer it, I reluctantly set down my food and opened the door.

Immediately, I froze.

Ethan was standing on the porch, smiling in his halfhearted, awkward way. I could have sworn my heart skipped a beat.

Behind him, Delia was bending over to help Rory out of my bushes, as he'd apparently slipped. Benny was gazing contentedly at her butt as she did so. Standing at Ethan's shoulder, oblivious to the chaos behind her, was a dark-haired girl. She grinned placidly at me. Suspiciously, I waved my hand in a vague response.

"H-hi," I stuttered, ever the eloquent one. "What's up?"

"Um. We kind of need your help for something," Ethan mumbled, looking very uncertain. Sarah blinked at him, then nudged him gently aside and took over with explaining.

"We're gonna tell you everything on the way. There's something really, really big happening, and you and Delia are a crucial key to figuring it out."

Delia looked up at me from where she had slipped in the mud and fallen, nearly on top of Rory. Said blond's face was as red as a strawberry. "I don't know anything about it either. You're not alone."

Softly, Sarah took my hand and led me out of the house. I was utterly confused. Why on earth did they need me? Did it have something to do with what Ethan had told me that first day of school — my being a Seer?

"Come on," the pretty, dark girl smiled. "Don't worry, I can promise that you'll almost definitely come back alive."

* * *

The next thing I knew, I had somehow been maneuvered around dozens of random packing boxes, a still-blushing Rory, and an ever-smiling Delia, as well a very protestant Benny("But _why_ can't I drive? I'm responsible!"). Somehow, I'd ended up squished in the back, right between the grumbling Benny and poor Ethan, who still looked gorgeous despite the fact that he'd nearly been flattened when Rory fell on top of him in his clumsiness. Benny had apparently decided that he deserved over half of the backseat to himself, so I'd been left with no option but to sit very nearly on Ethan's lap. I couldn't decide if I wanted to slit Benny's throat or fall to my knees and thank him.

With a jolt, the engine of the gang's suspicious-looking white van sputtered and rumbled to a start. Sarah, sitting in the driver's seat, yelled out, "Brace yourselves!" and the car began rolling aimlessly down my neighborhood's sloped street.

I had to admit, I'd expected at least a little control. Sarah seemed to have little to no power over where the vehicle drove; in fact, her hands didn't even look to be on the steering wheel. My face flushed white with panic.

Beside me, Benny had closed his eyes in…concentration? and was mumbling incoherently in some weird language. I had known he was "different," but that was just weird. He didn't even seem to be concerned about the car's horrible swaying, if his cool-but-collected expression was anything to go by.

I badly wanted to glance up at Ethan, even if it was just for a little reassurance of Benny's sanity, but I couldn't to risk it. I _was_ pressed right up to him, after all.

The van drove mindlessly across lawns, through parks, and alarmingly nearly over pedestrians. I found myself gagging, about to lose my breakfast.

After closing my eyes, I was relieved to find that the nausea subsided slightly. I hugged my knees to my chest and wished for the chaos to be over with.

All too abruptly, my wish was granted.

The van's violent careening ceased as suddenly as it had started, throwing everyone forward. Ethan was helplessly pressed very close up against me. I felt another blush coming on.

Sarah had been thrown into the steering wheel, causing her to yelp as she hit her head. Turning around, she glared malevolently at Benny, who shrugged in apology.

I wanted to ask why the unexpected halt was apparently Benny's fault, but was afraid to ask, lest I become even more confused.

"Whoa!" A sudden gasp interrupted the general moaning in pain. Delia had pressed her face and hands to the window, eyes wide in awe. I followed her gaze to see that we were surrounded by an endless sea of swirling silver mist. The only light source seemed to be, in fact, from our own van. I caught myself shivering with apprehension.

"Welcome," announced Ethan gravely, "to Transylvania."

* * *

**A/N: If you don't leave a comment, we will pay Chuck Norris to personally chase you down and HURT YOU until you do.  
**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: So sorry for the late update! I was very much entertained with Christmas and New Year festivities, and I obviously didn't have time to get onto my computer. Stay tuned for lots of Relia in this chapter. c;**

**-Nicky, Delia's writer**

* * *

_**Delia**_

The car skidded to a stop. My heart was racing at a hundred miles per hour, partially because I had been freaking out the whole ride, and also because I honestly thought I was going to barf all over the dashboard. My face was squished up against the windshield. For a moment, I couldn't see or hear anything because of the adrenaline pumping through my body. Then it cleared, and the only thing I could do was stare in awe at what lay ahead of us.

"Whoa!" I exclaimed, still not pulling my face off the windshield. A seemingly endless ocean of thick fog enveloped us, shrouding everything from view. Even if I looked out into the distance, all I saw was fog. Fog, fog, fog, fog. There was so much fog that I was seriously considering making a make-shift gas mask before I stepped outside. _That could totally be some weird Ozone slash carbon dioxide combination that kills everyone in five seconds,_ I thought, shivering.

Sarah and I glanced at the back of the van, where Ethan, Braelyn, Rory, and Benny were seated. Ethan's tone was grim as he announced, "Welcome to Transylvania."

Braelyn's face turned blue.

"T-Transylvania?" she whimpered, shrinking back in her seat. "What? I-I — why are we here?" Her eyes met mine, pupils dilated. She was visibly shaking. I looked back at Sarah, who looked pretty anxious herself. Rory's icy blue eyes were wide. Even Benny, who was usually so goofy and carefree, wore a grave expression.

"Yeah, why'd you take us here?" I asked, crossing my arms across my chest.

"It's a really, _really_ long story. We kind of made a deal with some of the leaders from the head vampire council," Ethan explained, squeezing Braelyn's hand in his. Braelyn's face turned a light shade of pink, and I hid a mischievous smirk at her reaction. Oblivious to the devious conspiracies unwinding in my head, Ethan continued his explanation. "Sometimes, when something big happens either here or in Whitechapel, they turn to us for help. They tell us what's going wrong, give us one or two supplies, and send us on our way. In return, they help Sarah and Rory with vampire stuff — well, not really; they just keep us safe, at the bare minimum."

My eyes widened. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold up. Are you saying you guys are…vampires?" I squeaked. Ethan waved the question off, as if that was old news and wasn't really important.

Rory gave me this really excited-yet-nervous nod, along with probably one of the most adorable smiles I had seen in all my life. He looked so…_squishable_. I wanted to hug him so badly. Then Ethan began speaking again, and I quickly snapped out of my cuteness coma.

"So, anyway, we brought you guys here because, well…" He gave a small shrug. "We needed help, and you were the only people that we knew we could trust." My heart raced just a little at the fact that they trusted me. Sure, we had been best friends for ages, but they _trusted me with their secret._ That was worth more than any long-time friendship.

"We don't know why they asked us to come here; all we know is that we would need a lot of help for what would be happening in the next couple days," Benny cut in. "See, Ethan had a vision and it said-"

"Agh, stop! Hold on for a second," I interrupted, my brain cloudy from all of the information I had just received. I raised an eyebrow. "Ethan has visions? Well that's something you guys never told me." All the comfort and pride that had come with the whole _"we trust you"_ thing disappeared almost completely. Why would they keep that a secret from me?

Ethan smiled faintly. "Sorry, Delia; I found out just a couple months ago. I wasn't hiding it from you," he insisted, putting a hand on my shoulder. I glanced back at him but didn't say a word. I had been hanging out with him again since September. Why did he choose to tell this to me now? And had Braelyn known about it? Judging by the look of _non_-confusion on her face, my guess was she had. That was just great; he trusted the new girl with his big secret before me. However, Braelyn and Ethan always seemed to have…something going on, so I wasn't _that_ insulted.

"Is there anything else I should know about you guys?"

Ethan thought for a moment and looked as if he were about to respond with a no, but then Benny piped up for the first time in the conversation.

"I'm a spellmaster."

"A _what?_"

Rory interrupted. "Basically, he's good at magic."

"Um, okay."

"So will you help us?" Sarah asked hopefully, a slight smile playing at her lips. Braelyn looked kind of worried, but I knew she would give in — of course she would say yes to spending more time with her big-time crush. It would be an easy question for her to answer. I, on the other hand, had a big decision to make. If I said yes, the risk of my secret coming out was pretty big. If I said no, my secret would be safe — but they might not get the job done, and it seemed pretty important. They could shun me if they found out what I was, and who could blame them? I was a freak of nature, something that shouldn't exist but did. The weirdo with the scars on her arms. Everyone who ever found out my secret ended up either hurt or avoiding me, and I didn't want to risk losing my only _real_ friends. Then again, if they really _were_ my real friends, they wouldn't think that I was a mutant in the first place. Maybe they would accept me. After all, they were freaks, too.

After what felt like an eternity, I replied, "Well, I think it's a bit too late to refuse, now, isn't it?" I smiled and locked arms with Sarah. "Yeah, I will. It'll be fun, I think." Ethan, Benny, and Sarah heaved sighs of relief. It must've seemed like I really was going to say no.

"That's great," Ethan said, looking down at his watch. "Now let's go find the castle before we're late." We all mumbled noises of agreement and began down into the foggy distance.

"I think we're almost there," Benny reported, glancing down at a mini map that floated over his hand. I still couldn't believe that he was a spellmaster. Benny and magic? That just wasn't a good combination. I would never think that he would be, out of all the people in the group, the one that controlled supernatural happenings.

"You think?" Ethan asked, squinting towards the seemingly endless void before us. "'Cos I don't see anything." Benny stopped in his tracks and gave him a _"seriously?"_ face.

"Well no dip, Sherlock!" he exclaimed, flailing his arms around for emphasis. "As you can tell, we're stuck in fog!"

I noticed something distant on the right. "Hey, guys, do you see that?" I said, pointing out towards the shape. "I think the castle's that way." Benny shook his head and looked down at his tiny, three-dimensional map.

"Nope, not possible," he said, frowning. "It's that way." He pointed out before us, where it was still just fog. I furrowed my brow. "But what's that, then?" I asked. The figure was closer now, but I still couldn't identify what it was. Everyone stopped in their tracks and faced the dark form.

"I…I don't know," Benny admitted, clenching his fist so that the tiny map would disappear.

"Maybe it's a little house or something?" Sarah suggested, but Benny just shook his head. "No, it can't be. There were no other buildings on the map." I bit my lip.

"Then what is it?" It was closer now, so close that I could almost identify what it was. Then it was closer, and closer, and closer…and then a bloodcurdling scream shattered the silence.


	17. Chapter 17

_**Braelyn**_

A piercing scream shattered the silence. I jumped, startled, and wondered what idiot was screaming, until I realized that "idiot" was me. I abruptly shut my mouth and wished to become invisible.

The hulking shape, barely visible through the pea-soup fog, grew ever closer until its shadow loomed over us like a bloodthirsty giant. Distracted by the ominous-looking form before me, I distantly noticed my incessant shaking and occasional peeps of fright..

The black form solidified into a vaguely humanoid shape that lurked evilly before us. Gnarled horns a deep hue of ebony branched from its bare skull, casting gray shadows on its slimy scalp. No hair was anywhere to be seen on its face or body; the scarlet stare from its bloodshot eyes was unhindered by eyebrows.

Bony, angular limbs curved at unearthly places, giving the impression that the creature before us was less than human. Its neck was easily a foot long, but the curved form of its spine hardly showed it. Raw, sooty wrinkles stretched thinly over its crooked form. Instead of locking at the knee like a human's, its legs were banded in a way that appeared nearly doglike.

Overall, the monster was hideous.

I screamed again, scrambling backwards and bowling haphazardly into Sarah. The vampire looked just as disturbed as I felt, but she held her ground and stared into the creature's discriminating glare, ignoring my and Benny's simultaneous shrieks of terror.

"You're a demon, aren't you?" she inquired, oddly calm.

The monster hissed, as if offended by her question. However, instead of responding, it locked its gaze on Delia, who was standing unfortunately close to it.

Pointing a knobbly, curved claw at her, it croaked, _"You. Must…die."_

Delia clambered away from it, desperate to be rid of its unrelenting stare, and gasped at its morbid demand.

Rory, who had until that point been cowering quite bravely behind Ethan, now pushed his way to the front. "What the crap does that mean?!" he demanded, glaring at the demon as if daring him to explain. "Why would you say that?!"

Leaning warily away from Rory, the demon hissed again in what I assumed to be disgust, judging the expression on its face. I whimpered and clutched limply at Sarah's jacket.

Suddenly, four more shapes formed in the enveloping mist. All of us jumped as we were surrounded by the gruesomely decayed life forms. They crowded in around us, rounding us up like sheep, and herded us none-too gently through the thick fog towards the unknown.

Benny, ever the unlucky one, was subject to a spiteful kick, to which he squealed in surprise and hurtled behind Ethan. Sarah fearlessly strode to the front of our group, leaving me whimpering in her wake. I whipped my head around, desperately looking for someone to hide behind, but Rory was busy keeping demons out of Delia's path and no one seemed to be paying me any heed. Mewling pitifully, I steered myself toward Benny and Ethan and tried to avoid the demons' now constant kicks and swipes.

Without warning, Sarah released a furious scream and leapt toward the demon closest to her, golden eyes narrowed and pearly fangs bared. The demon seemed to have been taken by surprise, because it didn't retaliate immediately. The vampire managed to get a good three clawing swipes in before it shook her off, angered.

Rory and Delia followed her example, doing their best to fight off the demons around them. Benny stepped back, brow furrowed and mouth moving soundlessly, seemingly to let them do the dirty work. Seconds after he finished his muttering, however, a green explosion shook the earth. In the place where one of the monsters had stood was a particularly slimy splotch of neon-green ooze.

Ethan grabbed my arm and led me out of harms way, his grip firm and urgent. I was too startled to resist, but when I realized he was trying to save us and leave our friends, I stopped. Eyes wide with insistence, he tried to drag me along again, but I shook my head resolutely. I wouldn't abandon the others to these monsters.

Sighing, Ethan seemed to give in, and dragged me behind himself so that he stood between me and the demons. His hands shook and his expression was panicked, but he didn't seem to be about to give up. "Go," he ordered.

"What? No way!"

"Go," he demanded again, more urgently. "I'll meet you back at the van."

I didn't respond. There was no way I would leave him or the others, but I had a feeling that he wouldn't succumb without an argument, which would distract him from fighting.

A demon tauntingly approached us, its vibrant eyes glowing with hatred. I hurriedly slipped into the shadows and, hopefully, out of its line of view.

The gruesome creature straightened to its full height, its giraffe-like neck giving it an unearthly look. Ethan trembled before it, dwarfed by its lanky stance. Gulping in foreboding, I forced myself to concentrate and count to three.

_One._ Releasing a furious scream, the demon swiped brutally at Ethan. Ethan miraculously dodged the blow, but fell backwards between two rocks.

_Two._ The demon stood over him, shrieking in triumph, and prepared to take the final blow. Still, I did not lose concentration.

_Three._ Hollering in outrage, I exploded from the nook and flew towards the creature. Pounding it with punch after hateful punch, I slowly beat it into submission.

Outmatched, it cowered before me in a helpless ball. I felt no pity for the monster, however. It deserved death, and I brought it to justice with a single roundhouse kick.

There was a dead quiet after I ended the demon's pitiful life, during which I gazed at the bloodied carcass. Its neck was grotesquely twisted from the kick that broke its neck. Suddenly, I remembered the circumstances I was in, and glanced around for my friends.

Benny, Rory, Sarah, Ethan, and Delia were gawking at me, shocked by the scene they had just witnessed. Lifeless bodies of the other two demons lay strewn around them, slowly melting into puddles of green goop, but they took no notice. Weakly, I offered a tentative, apologetic smile. "Um, I think I might have forgotten to mention something, guys. I have a black belt in choi kwan do."

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**A/N: Did you guys like the way I portrayed the demons, or did I overdo the whole "undead" thing? I'd love to hear your opinions. For the sake of Relia, demons, and the epicness that is Braelyn, comment!**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Ooh la la, looks like you guys got a lot of Relia in the last chapter, hmm? Don't worry… this chapter will have even more Relia. ;)**  
**And sorry if Rory seems a bit out of character in this chapter. He's just very protective over Delia – after all, they have been best friends since they were very young. :)**  
** -Nicky, Delia's writer**

* * *

_**Delia**_

Another scream rang out through the heavy, humid air, and it took me a second to realize that it was coming from behind me, not in front of me. When I craned my head to see who was screaming, I felt a hot, dry breeze against my back and immediately whirled around.

"Holy sh…" Just the sight of what stood before me drained me of my energy. It was definitely _not_ a vampire.

The hideous creature had knobby, animal-like legs, and long black horns that sprouted out of his skull. Its neck was tremendously long, and it boasted about that by turning its gruesome head around in an unnatural manner. Scarlet eyes buried within his naked skull flashed with hatred, hunger, and just plain evil. It seemed to be my polar opposite, with its fiery features and cruel nature. I had never been so scared in my whole life.

Its eyes scanned the crowd, seemingly searching for something to kill. The more it moved, the more I felt like my life was being drained out of me. Why? Maybe it was because of the fact that it was so warm – and I could never stand feeling too warm. I was always weak in the face of heat. Soon I had collapsed onto the ground in a lifeless manner, with nothing but my arms to soften the blow. Not wanting my friends to be scared, though, I pulled myself into an upright sitting position — my limbs were shaking wildly, but I was sitting nonetheless. Besides, I was glad; the beast was too busy growling to notice me sitting on the ground.

"You're a demon, aren't you?" Sarah let out in a surprisingly calm and orderly manner. _Oh, crap. So that's what it is._ The demon responded by letting out a sharp, cat-like hiss and turning its fiery gaze right on… me.

It pointed an ugly, twisted finger at me and said in a low, inhuman tone, "You. Must…die."

I let out a sharp cry of horror and scrambled backwards, trying to escape its clutches. I somehow managed to pull myself out of the dirt, although every bone in my body was threatening to give out. Suddenly I felt a rush of wind, and Rory appeared before me, fangs bared. "What the crap does that mean?!" he inquired angrily, crossing his arms across his chest. "Why would you say that?!" I felt a small pang of gratefulness and something else in my chest at the fact that he would protect me like that, but I didn't have time to truly appreciate it.

All of a sudden, four more demons appeared out of the fog, rounding us up like farm animals. In a desperate attempt to feel a little less terrified I grabbed Rory's hand, squeezing it tight. Usually if I held a guy's hand so abruptly like that he would push me away, but he didn't seem to care — he actually squeezed my hand right back. I think I probably would've internally fangirled had we not been in the circumstances we were in.

Before I realized what was happening, a demon threw itself mercilessly at me. I barely had time to react before two surprisingly strong hands pulled me out of the way and out of the demon's direct path. Rory yelled a few obscene words at the creature before running towards it, causing it to stumble backwards. Rather than backing away, though, he continued chasing it around in the fog. The demon roared and charged at him, but he dodged by flying up into the air. _Whoa, what?_ I had had no idea vampires could fly.

In the background, a thunderous explosion shook the earth. I turned quickly to see Benny standing over a remarkably large pile of green slime. His face was blank. "That…was…AWESOME!" he cheered, fist-pumping the air with a goop-spattered hand.

Shaking my head in disappointed pity, I turned back to Rory. As I watched him fight off the demon, however, I had no idea that I was being watched myself. It took ten seconds and a whole lot of hot breath for me to realize that another demon was standing behind me, teeth bared. It raised a clawed hand and slashed it across me, barely missing Sarah's old t-shirt but creating a very ugly and bloody gash down my leg. I could do little but watch as my skin sizzled and burned where it touched me – I somehow didn't black out. Maybe it was adrenaline that kept me going, maybe it was the fact that someone was actually fighting for me. Either way, I felt fine; even better than usual.

The demon slashed at me yet again, but I knew better and ducked before it could touch me. We remained that way for a while. I kind of hoped that Rory would come along and save me, but it was obvious that he had his hands full, too. I could only hope that maybe, just maybe, I would scare it off if I ran towards it.

I took a deep breath before running for the demon, hands outstretched towards it. My eyes were squeezed shut. I kept running and running and running…then something stopped me. I glanced down at my feet and wrinkled my nose in disgust. Below me sat a green puddle of goo, swelling eerily and oozing into my shoes. I yanked my shoes out of the goo before it could touch my feet and examined my shoes. Upon inspection, they exploded into ash. I frowned. 'So much for _heavy-duty flip-flops',_ I thought to myself, sighing. Rory flew to my side, squeezing my hand. "C'mon, there are three left," he urged, draping an arm over my shoulder to help me limp along. I refused his offer, however, and stood my ground.

"I-I'll get one," I stammered, pushing a strand of auburn hair out of my eyes. He shook his head in a responsible, protective manner and grabbed me once again.

"Delia, you're hurt," he reminded me. "If they get you again, t-they… something might happen to you. You can't do it on your own. If you try—"

"You don't know everything about me," I cut in, biting my lip. I shooed him off. "Go. Get the other one. I'll be fine — I promise." My solid expression must've been convincing enough, because he gave a small nod and ran off towards another demon.

I swallowed hard. Before me stood a demon even larger than the one before, blazing-red and furious. Puffs of smoke spewed out of what I guessed to be its nostrils. It let out a low, menacing roar and charged. It was then that I knew what I had to do. I hadn't done it since the whole blacking-out incident with Braelyn, but if I wanted to save my friends, I didn't have much of a choice. It was either fight or flight — and this time, I wasn't going to run away. It was going to work this time; I was sure of it.

Closing my eyes, I held out my hands before me. A chill ran down my spine. I was probably sweating, but I was too concentrated on what I was doing to tell. The roar of the demon was distant, and I knew it couldn't hurt me anymore. Once again the snowy, picturesque world filled my vision, chilling me to the bone. I was there. I was home. I picked up a small patch of snow and ran it through my hands — but it didn't melt. The snowflakes just sat idly in my hands. I felt so calm, so peaceful. So far I didn't feel any pain at all. I glanced down at my arm, where the scars from my earlier attempts intertwined. They were still there. I frowned, wondering why I hadn't felt anything. Then I did.

The scars began to jiggle — more like wiggle — down my arm, like little snakes inside my skin. They didn't stop moving; they kept changing into different shapes — a circle, a strange figure eight, a heart-like shape… it didn't make any sense. Then a bright light filled my vision, and I toppled over in the snow. When my vision finally cleared, I was lying in the dirt before the demon. It had its claws outstretched, ready to scratch my eyes out. I was about to let out a cry for help when I noticed something: right on my wrist, in place of the scars, sat a shimmering golden star. I barely had time to run my hand over the strange new mark before the demon slashed at me. I rolled out of its clutches and pulled myself up, holding the star-clad hand in front of me. I expected it to let out another growl or thrash again, but instead it backed away. It let out a sharp cry of pain, throwing itself onto the ground and throwing its clawed hands before its face.

I was holding out both hands now, smiling a bit at the fact that the monstrous creature was now cowering in fear before me. "Not so tough now, are you?" I said with a laugh, closing my eyes. I had no idea what to do, but I… I did.

"Mori, daemon!" I cried, opening my palms and thrusting them forward. I squeezed my eyes shut, praying that it would work and that I wouldn't end up awkwardly throwing my hands around for no reason.

Once I closed my eyes, though, my heart stopped. It actually worked. There was no way that I could've done that. How? Yet I had done it. That creature lying on the floor in a frozen heap? Yeah, it was dead because of me – no one else, just me. Hear that, snobby Angels' Grove cheerleaders who found out what a "freak" I was? Hear that, ex-boyfriend that thought I was "weird"? That's right: I did something you could 'never' do.

My mental "in-your-face" conversation with people who had discovered my secret was pulled to an abrupt stop when I heard a loud 'boom' and a screech behind me. I whirled around, half expecting someone from the group to be dead. What I saw was 'not' what I thought I would.

Braelyn was standing above a coiled-up demon, punching it like there was no tomorrow. I ran over to her side, watching in awe as she beat the creature to death. She dusted off her fists and leaned up against the van, completely oblivious of our shocked stares. Once she noticed us, though, she blanched, pale-faced, and said one thing, "Um, I think I might have forgotten to mention something, guys. I have a black belt in choi kwang do."


	19. Chapter 19

_**Braelyn**_

The others gawked at me, looking positively shocked. I was almost miffed by their lack of trust in me, but then wasn't the time to reprimand them.

Strangled, inhuman howls echoed in the distance, signaling the arrival of more of those creatures. Sarah was the first to break out of her stupor and quickly shook the others into their senses.

"We have to move, _now!_" she demanded. Grabbing Rory and Benny's hands, she dragged them toward the van. Delia stood in her way, however, and placed her hands on her hips resolutely.

"No way, José. We have a mission, right? We can't go back before it's finished!"

Ethan was at her side. "She's right. We failed our last one, remember? If we mess one more mission up, we might never get the materials you and Rory need."

Her eyes narrowed in frustration, Sarah looked as if she were about to protest — but she was interrupted with a long, droning growl. I jumped, expecting another demon ambush(they were getting closer!), but it was only Sarah's stomach, groaning for appeasement. The vampire looked embarrassed.

"Fine," she grumbled, turning around to face the crowd of undead. "But if we all die, I'm gonna kill you both."

"What?!" I exclaimed, staring at everyone in shock. "We're just gonna stay here? They're gonna squish us! Look at them, there are hundreds of them!" Delia glared at me, but I ignored her. "Letting them pound us isn't brave, it's just plain stupid. If we retreat for now and plan a more personal attack, we could save ourselves and gain a serious advantage."

"Shut up! We're staying here," Delia declared. There was a general mumble of consent, even if it was somewhat reluctant. Shaking my head at their obtuseness, I grabbed the backs of Ethan and Benny's shirts and dragged them toward the van. Luckily, the door was still open, and I shoved them inside and turned around to grab the other three.

Sarah and Rory easily complied to the insistent tugs on their jackets; both had an expression of nervousness. The shrieks and howls were getting closer. My heart rate pounded even faster, if possible. Urgently, I grabbed Delia's arm and tugged, but she wouldn't budge.

"Even if all of you guys are gonna be wusses and give up, I'm staying here," she declared.

I barely heard her announcement, however. Suddenly I felt an intense power coursing through my veins, and the air around me felt a hundred times hotter. Small nubs of…something sprouted on my back. They felt almost like…wings?

My fingers were cold. Looking down, I saw frost mushrooming at my fingertips. _What's going on?_ Sudden pain raced down my arm, and I realized with a wince that there were somehow fresh cuts along my wrist.

Delia and I locked eyes. For a moment, I could somehow sense her emotions — great fear hidden behind a wall of falseness, and knowledge. This girl, this _creature_, knew what was going on. I somehow knew she could sense my thoughts as well as I could hers, and I quickly broke eye contact.

She wasn't human, that I could tell. But then, what did that make me? Why did her…powers? spread to me when I first made contact with her skin? I had been told I was a Seer, but perhaps there was something different going on…

There wasn't time to be confused. Using my newfound strength, I shoved an unsuspecting Delia into the van and tried to follow, but the second that I lost contact with her hand, the energy was gone. I was left weak from the sudden loss, and before I could clamber inside the vehicle, slimy hands wrapped themselves around my waist.

I whipped my head around to look straight into the ruby eyes of a demon. Somehow its passion and hatred were suddenly mine — I felt a wicked, nearly overpowering desire to kill. My hands were clammy and knobbly, but I took no notice. I swiveled my head around, and my vision locked with Ethan's. In that moment, there was nothing in my mind but the strange but powerful craving for death and blood.

The door slammed shut in front of me, and I lunged forward, scratching at the window with newly developed claws. The glass was scraped horribly, but I couldn't break it. With a loud squeal, the van jolted forward and swerved around approaching demons. A strangled, guttural scream followed it away, but my hazy perception of my surroundings blurred it out. I screamed with disappointment; there were humans in that car! No human would escape my presence with its life and head intact. Lunging forward, I tried to chase it down.

The now thoroughly confused demon who had grabbed me lost contact with my waist, and clarity suddenly raced through my mind. Clarity, accompanied by a horrible exhaustion. I understood nothing but the fact that I had just wished for Ethan's death, which was horrible in itself. Slumping to the ground limply, I closed my eyes and wished for sleep.

A bright light was nagging me, shining viciously from outside my eyelids. I groaned and opened them, mumbling vaguely for the light to shut up.

In front of me sat a vampire, fangs bared in a cheeky grin.

I was awake immediately. The vampire, as I recognized him to be via his fangs, was squatting on his haunches in front of me. I seemed to be lying on some sort of cot, and there was a wet cloth on my forehead.

When he saw that I had awoken, his smile grew even larger in sympathy. "How are you, dearie?"

"Mmmmmmnnnnnnhhhhhh."

"I thought so." He had an oddly high-pitched voice, which was almost endearing when paired with the extreme British lilt his voice carried. "Don't worry, love, the nausea will be gone within the hour. Our medics ensured that."

"Hnnn…'our'?"

"Oh yes, I'd forgotten you've not been told yet. Silly me. You've been taken in by the DVAT, the Domestic Vampires Association of Transylvania. I'm the leader of the organization. We're proud to be the most successful of all vampire leadership programs in the world." His tone was just barely too chipper to be comforting. "My name is Oliver Kirkland." A hand was extended politely, but I was too lightheaded to accept it. "You may think it strange for an Englishman to be running a program founded in Transylvania, but I promise that all of your questions will be answered in due time."

"'Kay."

"Now, love, you'd best go back to sleep. The nurses will have my hide if they see I've woken you; do avoid telling them, won't you? There's a dear. If you need anything, ring this bell." He set a call bell at my side with a flourish. With that, he got to his feet and exited, leaving me alone with my unanswered questions and the bell.

There was nothing to do but think. I inspected the ceiling with ardor, but my thoughts were not on the graceful dome nor the arching buttresses. They were miles away, focused on the mystery that had taken place just before I'd blacked out.

_First of all, there's the question of why we were in Transylvania in the first place. Didn't they say something about a mission? Why did whoever call on _us, teenagers,_ to do their jobs for them? Oh yeah, and why did they take me and Delia with them?_ I could understand why Delia was brought along, seeing as she apparently was more than human, but why me? I had no obvious powers, and no one knew of them if I did, so my accompanying them made no sense. _You're not going to get the answers to those questions. Try something you can figure out yourself. Like…Why did I suddenly want to kill when that demon touched me? Was I being possessed by some spirit or something?_ That theory didn't explain how I'd changed when making contact with Delia. There was also the question of my supposedly being a Seer, which I now questioned. Also, each of the three episodes seemed to have ended as soon as I lost contact with the respective others…

Suddenly, I thought of something. Grabbing the object by my side, I rang the bell furiously, causing Oliver to barge in with a panicked expression on his face.

"What's all the ruckus about?" he demanded, somehow still maintaining a sweet tone and a smile.

Although my aching head pleaded otherwise, I braced my hands against the bed and sat up. "Oliver," I inquired slowly, "can you tell me what I am?"

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**A/N: Really shouldn't be up this late. How did you guys like Braelyn's "differentness" this chapter? Since I know some of you are gonna be confused, I'll explain.**

**Braelyn is a rare being, a type of human parasite, who unwittingly gains the powers and emotions(and sometimes forms) of other supernatural beings through contact. That's why, when she accidentally touched Ethan in Chapter One(I think), she had a vision about him and her in the future. Once she's made contact with a supernatural being once, she isn't affected by him or her(or it) again.**

**Delia is a sort of half-angel, by the way. There's a long backstory coming up that'll explain that. She can control ice, but every time she does, she gains a scar on her wrist. When Braelyn made contact with her, she was unused to the power that she gained and accidentally caused frost to grow on the fingers in contact with Delia's wrist. She didn't change when she dragged everyone else into the car because she touched their shirt or jacket, not their skin.**

**Demons don't have coherent thoughts, just instincts. That's why she completely lost control; once she became a demon-mutant-thing, she was stripped of being able to think, and went completely psycho. Once she lost contact with the demon and became normal again, she was so exhausted at having changed twice in a row that she just fainted. She probably changed while unconscious too, since the vampires had to carry her somehow and the demons probably stepped on her or something, but since she was asleep, she didn't remember it.  
**

**Thanks for going through with this story for so long, you guys. You have no idea how much Nicky and I appreciate it. Comment, pleasepleasePLEASE!  
**

**Oh yeah, and are there any Hetalia readers out there? If so, did you catch the reference to 2P!England? His human name is Oliver. If you like him, PLEASE pm me! Thanks :D  
**

**Wow this is a long A/Ns section, but I wanted to give a shoutout to all of the guest reviewers out there, especially Relia Shipper, who comments like every single chapter. It's real dedication to comment even though you're not logged in, so thanks!  
**


	20. Chapter 20

**Since I know for a fact that you guys have been asking for Relia, (I also have been asking for it myself) I decided to add some in this chapter. Heh. (; Ooh, and I also dedicated myself to watching a couple old episodes of MBAV to really soak in the knowledge and how the characters act, so I think it'll be a bit more realistic this time. Enjoy, my loves.**  
**^-^**  
**-Nicky, Delia's writer**

* * *

_**Delia**_

Even long after Braelyn had bloodthirstily attacked the van, I was still pressed up in between Rory, Ethan, and Benny, silently rocking myself back and forth. I knew what had happened, I knew why it happened, and most of all: I knew it was my fault. If I hadn't tried to stay and find a way to fight the demons, (after all, I now knew how to control my abilities) she would've been sitting right alongside us, probably happily chatting with Ethan – but no. I had to go and be a stubborn little beeyotch that wanted to stay and be a hero. However, that wasn't the main reason as to why I was nearly on the brink of tears.

I was freaking out because she found out what I was, in a way that I didn't think someone ever would. She became me, in a sense. I could see it in her eyes; they were wide and full of fear. Plus, she had grown these little tiny wing things on her back and her fingers were frosted over, like she had been left out in the snow for too long. I wouldn't have questioned it if we were in the middle of a blizzard, but since we were standing amidst a group of very warm demons, it didn't really make sense. Then when the demon touched her, she just went insane. I had to close the door on her to be able to keep her from hurting anyone inside the van. We wouldn't have left her, but it didn't seem like we had much of a choice.

It might've seemed like a major coincidence that she went whacko, but I knew the real reason why she did. It had happened right as the demon touched her, and her movements and expressions were just like a demon's. There was no way she had just randomly had a spurt of sheer insaneness – and I highly doubt that she went insane because she did drugs or something of the sort. She had an ability, a strange ability, and it was dangerous. No one else would've probably noticed, but I…I did. And the burden of being too afraid to tell everyone her possibly deadly secret was driving me _insane._

"Ah." Sarah glimpsed back at us, unbuckling her seatbelt. "Looks like we're here."

I squinted out the window for any signs of another structure of any sort, but it seemed like we were alone. "Um… there's nothing out there," I reported, raising an eyebrow. Benny unbuckled himself (Seriously? When did they had time to buckle themselves in?) and opened the side door, allowing some chilly yet musty air to enter the van.

"Vampire instincts, babe," he explained in a know-it-all manner, pulling himself out of the van. "She can tell where the building is because it's basically the basis of all vampires. Weird, I know." He shrugged his shoulders and allowed the rest of us to exit the van. I rolled my eyes at his mildly flirtatious words and followed behind the others. It was then when I saw the castle.

It was…interesting, to say the least. The bleak, boring color of the building had been eaten away by years of acid rain and sitting in a very thick fog. Hideous gargoyles sat atop of every balcony, seemingly searching for intruders to destroy. I swallowed hard. "Do you think they'll kill us when we get inside?" I asked shakily.

Ethan shook his head, squeezing my hand in his. "It's fine," he assured me, managing a smile. "They know who we are." I smiled back half-heartedly and trailed behind the others. Despite his attempt at calming me, I was still terrified.

"Well, here we have it," Oliver Kirkland chirped, gesturing at a set of black double doors standing before us. As soon as we had reached the doors of the castle he had appeared, randomly asking us if we would like a tour. Ethan had said yes, of course; he would rather be shown around by the eerily cheerful vampire than by a random, grumpy vampire that could kill us all if they felt like it. I felt like Oliver could easily kill us all and be pleased about it, but I had no say in the decision. He was just plain ol' creepy.

The overly jolly man grinned, pushing the doors open just enough to create a sense of mystery. "But-" He stopped his hand, slamming the door shut again, "You'll have plenty of time to enjoy the beauty of the Council Room tomorrow." Sarah's eyes widened.

"W-what do you mean by 'tomorrow'? Are we going to have to stay here?" she inquired, crossing her arms across her chest. Oliver gave an energetic nod.

"Yes, indeed!" he exclaimed in an animated manner. "The Domestic Vampires Association of Transylvania would be honored if such noble heroes as yourselves stayed the night in our guest suites." He clapped his hands together, smiling yet again. He draped his arms over Rory and Sarah's shoulders. "The suites are very luxurious and grand, by the way," he added. "And they're right down the hall – just keep walking down that way until you find a door. That'll be the suite hallway. Farewell, my newfound friends!" He pointed us in the general direction and then he was off, gone as quickly as he came.

"Well, that was…" Sarah cocked an eyebrow. "Weird." We all made noises of agreement and headed down the hall towards the suites. "Hopefully the rooms aren't too terrifyingly vampire-y," she said, sighing.

"Wow." I tossed myself onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "It's surprisingly not hideous." The room was a pale beige color, with brown furniture and a big canopy bed smack in the middle. The bed was dressed with a brown comforter, which was as soft as silk. The ceiling, which had not been painted and remained a boring white, was decorated with little tiny silver stars. It actually kind of reminded me of my room, but with a more mature touch. I liked it.

I heard a knock at my door. "Come in," I called, looking over at the door. In came Rory, dressed in just a pair of pajama pants and a flimsy tank top. He actually looked kinda…hot. He gave a small smile and settled down beside me.

"Hey," I greeted. He glanced around at my room, allowing a faint whistle to escape his mouth. "Hiya. Nice rooms, huh? Mine reminds me of my own back at home. Apparently, the room adjusts to whoever is staying in it," he explained in a sleepy yet somewhat excited tone. I didn't answer.

Rory exhaled deeply, drumming his hands on his knees. We didn't say anything; we just sat there in silence for a while. It was so quiet that we could hear the wind blowing outside, and the others carrying a hushed conversation on the other side of the wall. _So much for privacy,_ I thought to myself.

"So… I see you changed," he commented, gesturing at my clothing.

I gave a small nod. "Yeah." I glanced down at the blue jeans and flowy white top I was wearing. "I found it in one of the drawers. I guess the clothing adjusts to the person that's staying in the room, too," I guessed with a shrug. "Yeah, that's probably it," Rory said.

It was quiet again. I honestly didn't mind, though; I didn't have much to say. I was still pretty badly shaken up with everything that happened with Braelyn. She was probably still out there, maybe even hurt… and it was all my fault. The pain must've reflected in my eyes, because the next thing I knew, Rory had pulled me into a tight embrace. "It wasn't your fault, Delia," he insisted, noticing my pain. "You just wanted to protect us."

I shook my head. "B-but… if I hadn't been so stupid in the first place, none of this would've happened. We would be here and so would Braelyn," I sniffled. "Now she's probably off somewhere in the middle of the fog, hurt and maybe-"

"Shhh," Rory whispered, squeezing me tight again. "She's going to be okay. Once we're done here, we'll go and find her. She'll be fine." I looked up at him, wiping away some stray tears.

"You think so?" I asked unsteadily.

He nodded and wiped away a tear. "Duh. She's got a black belt, remember?" He gave me a lopsided grin and ruffled up my hair. "Stop worrying so much. Sometimes you act like you're a hundred and fifty."

I stuck my tongue out at him and leaned my head on his shoulder. 'Well, sometimes you have to,' I thought to myself.

"Hey, do you remember when we used to wrestle each other?" Rory recalled, a sly smirk on his face.

My eyes widened. "Oh, no, no, no…Rory, don't-" It was too late to stop him, though.

The next thing I knew, Rory had pushed me backwards and exclaimed, "THE VAMPIRE NINJA IS IN DA HOUSE!"

_Oh god, I hope no one heard him,_ I whimpered. Although I didn't want to admit it, I actually missed our stupid little brawls and wrestling competitions. I had always won them when we were little, since I was older and bigger, but it wasn't the case now. We were much older, and his strength (and height) was much more than mine. I was hopelessly outmatched.

In just a couple seconds he had me pinned down. His breath was heavy, although I was pretty sure that I was panting more than he was. Since when did he get so strong? I couldn't concentrate on that, though – I was a little too busy trying not to 'die.' We were so close…so very close. If I moved even a centimeter closer to him, our noses would touch. Scratch that, actually; our noses were already touching. He grinned in a cheeky manner and pulled away, proud of the fact that he beat me. I was still red in the face at the fact that our bodies were so close. Sure, our faces weren't that close, but the bottom half of his body was still pressed up against mine – and that was a little bit…embarrassing.

"I win," he cheered in a breathy tone. I laughed, sitting up so that my back was pressed up against the backboard of the bed. Then the room grew silent again, and all that was heard was laughter from the other side of the wall. I might have moved, but Rory and I were still a little too close for there not to be any…non-angelic thoughts in my mind. He moved slightly farther away. "Delia…" Rory faltered, clearing his throat. "Um…am I sitting too close? Because I can-" I shook my head.

"No." A small smile played at my lips. "It's fine."

Rory managed a nervous, "Oh." His face was as red as a tomato, but he looked pretty pleased. The sides of his mouth curled up into a small smile. "That's good." He leaned forward and the next thing I knew, his lips were pressed up against mine in a somewhat less-than-innocent manner.

My eyes probably would've flown open in shock had it been any other guy, but it was Rory: the guy that I had somehow developed a crush on in the past month, yet had known since I was just a baby. I sat up straighter and wrapped my arms around his neck, relishing the slightly minty flavor of his lips. I ran my hand through his hair and, for once, I actually forgot about everything else that was going on. All that went through my mind was that perfect, memorable moment and the sweet taste of Rory's lips.


	21. NOT A REAL CHAPTER

**A/N: Okay hai people. We had some requests for a full description of Braelyn and Delia(shoutout to Rory Shipper and Me Gusta!), so here you go. If I missed anything, PM me or leave a review, and I'll try to answer as best as I can.**

**Oh yeah, and sorry to disappoint you with a chapter that's not really a chapter! Stay tuned, the next one will be posted by tonight. I hit a rather unfortunate wall of writers' block with only one paragraph to go X.X**

**_Braelyn_**

****Height: 5'1"

Weight: 110 lbs

Hair: Light blonde, longish, thin, wispy at the bottom and sides. Side bangs on her left side that cover up her eyebrow and some of her eye. When she's feeling shy, she uses it as a sort of shield, like Violet in The Incredibles.

Eyes: Sea-greenish blue

Skin tone: Very, VERY light. A few light freckles spattered across her nose.

Personality: Aw heck, you guys already know.

_**Delia**_

Height: 5'6"

Weight: 130 lbs

Hair: Deep brown, with a reddish tint to it in the right light. Wavy, and can sometimes be mistaken for curly.

Eyes: Hazel, mostly green

Skin tone: Tan, but not overly

Personality: Not gonna bother, it should be obvious.

**A/N again: Did this help at all? Sorry for not having described them earlier! Oh yeah, and pray that I'll be able to finish the chapter by tonight. My brain decided to die on me or something TT^TT**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Wow, that was easier than I expected. Hope you guys like the new chapter! Oh yeah, and just so you know, Braelyn's not depressed or anything. There's a reason, you just have to wait to figure it out. Thanks for reading!**

_**Braelyn**_

_Sangösum Aeternus._

My mind was blank as I processed the information I'd just received. Oliver had reluctantly explained to me that I was a form of human parasite, whose existence would never truly end. When I made physical contact with another supernatural being, I temporarily and unwittingly snatched some of his powers from him and became a creature like him. He had told me that when this body of mine perished, my soul would exist in spirit form until it found a new host that suited it.

"So…I have two souls inside me?" I'd questioned, gaping at the Englishman in horror and confusion.

"Uhm…no, actually. When the _Sangösum Aeternus_ entered your body, it basically kicked the body's spirit out. Most likely, your body's original spirit perished without a life form to latch onto."

_I am a murderer. I am an immortal murdering parasite._

_…Why?_

I hadn't chosen to be this way; the crime I had committed was not my fault. Or was it? Even though I didn't remember my previous lives and time as an intangible spirit, I may have unconsciously made the choice to preserve my own life at the expense of another's. My decision outlined my true colors, and I couldn't hide from them any longer.

For my whole life, I'd considered myself to be a gentle being. I'd never purposely hurt someone else, whether physically or verbally. Or so I'd thought.

I shuddered.

_Horrible._

_ Murderer._

_ Parasitic._

_ Unloved._

Cawing, sinister voices tormented me from the inside, prodding painful parts of me and picking on my insecurities, both age-old and newly developed.

"No."

_Monster._

"Shut up."

_Abandoned._

"Go away!"

_Orphan._

"Please…"

The world around me swirled and blurred, as if even my physical surroundings had changed. Nothing was familiar. Nothing was right. _Nobody wants me…_

_"You should just go die, stupid orphan. Nobody wants you here."_ The taunting voices of bullying cheerleaders past echoed in my head. I was nearly convinced. _I am useless. Unwanted. Unloved. I should just go die…_

"THE VAMPIRE NINJA IS IN DA HOUSE!"

The sudden holler shook me from my melancholy. Eyes wide with horror at the thoughts that had been running through my head, I blinked and got to my feet.

_Who was that yelling just now? It sounded almost like…No, it couldn't be…_

My curiosity got the better of me, however, because I slowly shuffled to the door of my room and peered out into the hallway. The corridor was empty, but that didn't ensure anything…

A long, curving staircase circled downward a few yards to my left. I decided to explore, thinking it a better option than letting my depressing thoughts get to me again, and plodded groggily toward the stairs. Every step felt like a marathon, but somehow I managed to end up on the floor below me.

A tall, arching doorway loomed before me. I stared up at it for a moment, before moving my gaze to the silver doorknob farther down. There seemed to be strange noises coming from behind the door. Curious, I nudged it open and peeked inside.

Right there in front of me, making out like there was no tomorrow, Delia and Rory sat perched on the canopy bed inside.


	23. Chapter 23

**Hope you enjoyed the much-needed Relia in the past couple chapters. And did you picture the girls the way they actually look? I know a couple of you were kind of surprised to hear that Brae was actually a blond. cx Oh, and fyi: before anyone starts to tell me that Magellan isn't Rory's last name, I just thought that Magellan went along nicely with the name Rory. :)**  
**Plus, sorry this chapter is so short!**  
**-Nicky's writer**

* * *

Delia

So there I was, smooching Rory Magellan atop a huge canopy bed inside of an ancient vampire fortress in the middle of Transylvania. I honestly couldn't say that I had done that before – the kissing Rory thing, at least. Although I was enjoying myself at the moment, my mind couldn't help but drift off to the rude comments that the cheerleaders from Whitechapel High had said about him. What would they say then if they knew that I was kissing him right then and there? I knew what I would say.

_ "Oh, yeah? I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of what an amazing kisser he is."_

This wasn't my first kiss — that much I knew for sure. I had kissed plenty of guys before; jocks, normal guys, really hot guys, semi-hot ones…but I had never felt a kiss like that before. It was so sweet and so strong at the same time. I literally felt like I was floating up in the air. It was so perfect…

"OH MY GOSH, WHAT?!"

Rory jumped and pulled away, causing my head to slam against the wall. His eyes were wide with horror, as if he had just been woken up from a dream. (Technically he had been. I know _I_ had.) My head snapped in the direction of the cry, and so did Rory's. It was coming from the opposite side of the room, it was coming from behind the door, it was… Braelyn.

A small squeak of terror escaped my mouth, and it took me a second to realize what a compromising situation we had been caught in. Rory was shirtless. My shirt was halfway up, even though it was only because of the fact that we had been so suddenly interrupted. (Nothing showed, anyway.) My legs were wrapped around his waist, and his hair was spiked up in all the wrong ways. Braelyn probably thought that we were about to… do something that I would never ever ever do at the age that I was.

Rory and I could do little but gawk at Braelyn, then at each other, then back at Braelyn again. "Uh…" A chorus of stomps was heard in the hallway, and the others appeared in the doorway.

"Hey, hey, what's going-" Ethan's face paled. "Um…!"

Sarah's jaw dropped. "What the —?"

Benny peeked his head through and smirked, seemingly the only one who wasn't frozen in shock. He smiled cheekily, sliding past the stock-still others and plopping down on the bed beside us.

"Can I join?"

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**Okay, if any of you pervy Relia fans out there agree with me that this is the best chapter yet, please review XDDD**  
**-Kristine, Braelyn's author**


	24. Chapter 24

'OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGO MGOMGOMGOMGWHATJUSTHAPPENED.'

Delia…and Rory? Doing THAT? I had known the two had a thing for each other, but still…How much had I missed in the one day I'd been gone? That was another issue. Oliver hadn't even so much as implied that my friends had been found; in fact, until I so awkwardly came across Rory and Delia, I had been quite sure that they had returned home without me.

Standing to my right, just as wide-eyed and shocked as I felt, Ethan was mumbling apologies incoherently. Muttering something about needing to ask Oliver a question, he grabbed by hand and got the heck out of there.

Once we were out of earshot, Ethan released me and slumped against the wall, falling into a crouch. "Holy…"

I was equally disturbed. "W-what just happened?" I squeaked, mimicking his position.

Shaking his head, he kept his eyes away from mine, perhaps out of embarrassment. "I don't even know anymore. I don't know what to think…"

The scene we had just witnessed was strange, but he was acting overly upset. "Um…Ethan?" I prodded. "You okay?"

He was silent for a moment, then sighed and pulled himself together. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. There's just…a lot of stuff going on right now…"

"As in?"

"I can't tell you. I wouldn't want to anyway. It'd be wrong to burden you with this stuff…"

"Tell me?" I shifted my position so that we were facing each other. "Please?"

A thick silence settled over us while I waited for his response and he searched for one. Finally, he closed his eyes and exhaled. My hopes rose with expectation.

"Um, you might not get where I'm going with this at first, so…listen to the whole thing, alright?"

"Okay." I would have anyways.

"T-there's something I've been meaning to tell you. You know that time, a few months ago, when we…?"

My eyes shot open. He was going to bring 'that' back up? "I-I —"

"Hear me out, please!"

I swallowed whatever excuse I had been about to spew out and forced myself to stay seated. "'Kay."

"BraelynIloveyou."

"What?"

The poor boy looked as if he was about to hyperventilate. "I, um, I really l-like you…like, a lot…"

'Wait…' Was he…confessing to me?

My whole mind went blank. I stuttered, stumbling for the words that wouldn't come, while watching Ethan's face turn from hopeful to guiltily apologetic.

"I-I'm sorry, Braelyn, I didn't know if you —"

'Oh, to heck with it all!' I leaned forward and took his lips in mine.

Ethan's reaction was immediate. After a momentary pause of shock, he closed his eyes and tangibly relaxed into the embrace. 'This kiss is better than the first,' I decided, smiling against his lips. Just as the first had been filled with uncertainty, nervousness, and confusion, this one assured our feelings for one another.

Slowly, hesitantly, I let my arms creep up to his hair, where they settled to running through it passionately. We were so close to each other…A shiver ran down my spine, and I kissed him even harder. Eagerly, he responded with a light squeeze on my shoulders.

I was running out of oxygen. It seemed as if Ethan were as well, judging by the way his gasps for air were getting louder and louder. Finally, I broke away from the kiss, leaning back against the wall beside him.

"Wow…" he mumbled, earning a light smile from me. "That was…"

"Amazing? Yeah." I leaned my head against his shoulder, to which he responded quite positively.

"I wasn't sure if you felt the same way…"

'How dense is this guy? If Delia's hints are anything to go by, I'm completely obvious.' Then again, Ethan probably had been too. I guess we had both just been too blinded by our feelings to notice.

Three slow claps sounded from around the corner, making both me and Ethan jump. Smirking, Benny sauntered into view with a mischievous look to his face.

"Well, well, well. Wasn't that entertaining?" he grinned.

Ethan and I blushed in sync. "Go away, Benny," Ethan growled, obviously upset by the interruption.

Benny ignored him. "So, Sarah," the girl slid into view, "If Braelyn and Ethan are together, and Delia and Rory are most OBVIOUSLY together, does that mean you and I…?"

He was cut off abruptly with a slap to the face. Sarah glared at him, her fierce expression telling him to shut up right then and there. Hands held up defensively, Benny slunk away. "Okay, okay! If that's how you feel about me…poor, heroic, unappreciated Benny, never gets the girl…"

"Hey, Benny."

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

"Okay."

The two of them disappeared from sight, leaving me and Ethan to glance awkwardly at each other in a tense silence. Neither of us knew exactly how to break the silence, so we fell into another peaceful quiet.

My mind felt as if it were about to explode. Somehow, it managed to wander back to Delia and Rory. If I hadn't accidentally interrupted them, would they have…done that? Delia looked as if she hadn't had a clue of how far they'd been getting along, so my guess was yes.

While I was on the subject, I remembered Oliver's very clear assurance that my friends had had yet to be found. Curious, I looked up at Ethan and mumbled, "Hey, Ethan? How long have you been here?"

"Um, we just got here a couple hours ago. Why?"

"Because Oliver talked to me not thirty minutes ago and told me you were nowhere to be found."

He (cutely) cocked his head, looking mystified. "I wonder if he's up to something…"

"I suppose you could say that."

A cold, sinister voice permeated the quiet that had filled the corridor. Ethan and I looked up, startled, to see an eerily grinning Oliver standing before us**.**

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**A/N: Don't even know, guys. I just kind of slapped together a bunch of things that were going through my mind at the time…I was actually gonna delete it and start over, but Nicky convinced me not to and I've taken long enough of a time for this anyway. Btw sorry for stealing Delia and Rory's moment, but I guess Ethan got a little turned on by it and decided he wanted to advance his relationship with Braelyn. Lol. Do you guys like how this played out, or not? I'm not very sure about this one…**


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